Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
My daughter has had the most amazing experience within Mrs. Johnson's third grade class at Trailside. Last year, my daughter Gracie was struggling, and having a hard time meeting the state benchmarks. She had a difficult year during her first grade year, and spent much of last year catching up. She started this year apprehensive that she would be able to keep up with her peers.
Mrs. Johnson has already taken Gracie in, reassured her, and inspired her to become more organized, more focused on her assignments, and she is thriving. At the start of the year Gracie did not do well on a preliminary reading test. Mrs. Johnson then changed the testing format onto computer to take a second look, and Gracie was able to place 8th highest in her class. When the scores came in, Mrs. Johnson took Gracie up to the principal and together, they celebrated her growth at a assembly the next day for those that were achieving. I can't express how much this gave my daughter a confidence and love of learning.
I am very impressed by all the teachers at my daughter's school. They work tirelessly to not only do the minimum the district, state and Feds require, but actually focus on the child and maximize learning for all the kids they encounter. Taking multiple readings, going above and beyond to them may seem normal, but to us, their impact is immeasurable in the result in our daughter. That is why I am nominating Mrs. Johnson, and all the teachers at Trailside. In an era where all we hear is how schools are failing, this teacher and class is excelling.
--John Clinton
