• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Special-Education Teacher at Christa McAuliffe Middle School Earns Top Traching Honor

Posted on: Friday, 7 April 2006, 15:01 CDT

By Marc Freeman, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Apr. 7--West Boynton -- Interrupting a lesson on medieval history, the schools chief presented flowers Thursday morning to the new queen of the realm.

Superintendent Art Johnson surprised Sheri Predmore with the bouquet and a new title: Palm Beach County Teacher of the Year.

No joust.

"I can't think of a more worthy recipient than you," Johnson told the 39-year-old special-education teacher for language arts at Christa McAuliffe Middle School.

Before the visit, Predmore had been helping her students research the Middle Ages in advance of a field trip next week to the Medieval Times attraction in Kissimmee. The Boynton Beach resident got the rest of the day off to celebrate with her husband, Kurt, a science teacher at Lake Worth High School, who cheered the announcement.

"I put my heart and soul into making sure these kids get what they need," Predmore said, crediting the school faculty and community for her honor. "I love what I do for a living."

She's been an educator 10 years, including the past eight at McAuliffe Middle. Over that time, the "high-energy" Predmore became a mother of two: Connor, 8, and Tristan, 7. She also obtained prestigious national board certification and is studying for her doctorate in special-education administration from Nova Southeastern University.

Principal Terry Costa praised Predmore as a master at motivating her special-needs students to achieve academic success, whether by arranging educational field trips, organizing sidewalk art festivals or leading a student letter-writing program to connect with U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

"When you put that all together, she's just an incredible teacher," Costa said. "She has the ability to find a way to do whatever it takes to help her children succeed -- and they do."

In a nomination letter, the principal wrote that all of Predmore's students last year performed well on the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. It's also to her credit that the school's entire special-education student population met the federal Adequate Yearly Progress standard in reading.

"She works tirelessly to ensure that her students are proficient readers and writers," Costa noted.

Sixth-grader Dukerline Placide says her teacher is worthy of the award.

"She comes in every day with a smile on her face," the 13-year-old said. "She loves to teach us."

As the best among almost 12,000 county teachers, Predmore now enters a competition to crown the top teacher in the state.

At a July ceremony for the Florida Department of Education-Macy's Teacher of the Year program, she'll receive $750 from Macy's and $250 for her school. The state says it'll give the teacher an extra $500, if money is available.

If Predmore is named one of five state finalists, the Macy's award increases to $5,000, plus $1,000 for the school and the possibility of $1,250 from the state. The ultimate winner receives a $10,000 check from Macy's, maybe $2,500 from Florida, and the additional title of Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education, acting as a representative and state spokeswoman for the teaching profession.

Maybe that's destiny for the McAuliffe Middle teacher.

"What I have found is the key to being successful," Predmore said, "is to learn from every person you come in contact with."

Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6642.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

More News in this Category