 |
| From left to right - Katie Wheeler, Kristina Peterson, Mariah Kirsch, and Bridget Leonardis - all co-presenters at the National Council of Teachers of English conference in Las Vegas. Kirsch teaches at St. Thomas Aquinas in Dover. (courtesy photo) |
DOVER -
The National Council of Teachers of English is a highly
influential and well-respected educational organization, often at the forefront
of academic innovation. Each year,
thousands of teachers attend the NCTE’s annual convention where they can “get
fresh teaching ideas, be inspired, and make lifelong connections.”
This year, St. Thomas Aquinas English Teacher Mariah Kirsch
has been selected to present at the annual convention. She and her co-presenters titled the
session “Positively Defiant: Bending Rules to Enhance Student Success.” An excerpt from the description of this
session in the convention program reads: “Good teaching is difficult,
especially in an era when creativity and dialogue are limited. Join a panel of
teachers (just regular ol’ teachers) as they discuss their dreams for better
classrooms and the connections they formed, which empowered them to ignite
thinking in their own communities.”
Kirsch met a group of like-minded English teachers at the
Literacy Institute at the University of New Hampshire last summer. Her group
developed a support network that remained in the fall when they went their
separate ways. Out of this collaborative effort came a proposal to present the
fruits of their efforts and successes.
Kirsch said she never dreamed the proposal might turn into a
speaking engagement. “NCTE only accepts a small percentage of proposals that
come their way. My friends and I put together our proposal fully expecting
rejection. We thought it would be a good professional experience just to try,”
Kirsch said. “We aren’t famous. We aren’t published authors. I guess NCTE saw
promise in our collaboration.”
As the group noted, “True collaboration provides teachers
with support, validation, and the courage to be ‘positively defiant.’” The
group’s panel discussion will focus on three subjects that helped them become
teacher leaders: Mentors and
Models, a Support System, and being Positively Defiant.
An eight-year teaching veteran, Kirsch has been a member of
the St. Thomas Aquinas English faculty since 2009. In addition to her teaching duties, she has worked to stay
on top of the enormous changes that have occurred in education, from the
technological to the pedagogical.
The other teachers in the presentation are Katie Wheeler,
from McCormick Junior High in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Kristina Peterson, a teacher
at Exeter High School, and Bridget Leonardis, of North Andover Middle School in
Massachusetts. The conference is being held in Las Vegas, Nevada, this year.
“People’s reaction has been ‘I know why you applied for that
conference,’” she said of the Sin City locale. “But really, the English teacher
in me was hoping for something a bit more cultural.”
The group has been hard at work, honing their presentation
while collaborating online.
“What we are doing is a panel discussion, splitting time
between the four of us. We’re showing how we built up our own communities, and
found mentors and strategies to inform our teaching,” she said. “What I’m
personally speaking on is how I’ve tried to work on professional development at
St. Thomas, to show how teachers can be leaders in our own schools.”
Kirsch started her career in a public school in Delaware,
“so I’ve seen both sides,” she said. “It was a very different situation, a
Title I school with a high free and reduced lunch rate.”
Now, she says her teaching experience is different at St.
Thomas Aquinas, a private, Catholic school.
“At St. Thomas, we’re free to be creative without that
aspect of state testing looming over us. Tests are good but can be
restrictive,” said Kirsch, who also credits a supportive administration in her
success story.
An example of this support occurred when she asked to break
school rules regarding cell phone use so she could better illustrate a class
lesson.
“We’re hoping to show teachers in different situations,” she
said, and plans to take turns with the other panelists, who all teach at public
schools. “We’re hoping teachers at the convention will take away the belief
that they too can do something like this with little formal experience in
presenting.”
Kirsch is a frequent presenter at faculty meetings, and this
year was selected by principal Kevin Collins to co-chair the school’s new
“Instructional Leadership Team.”. Kirsch plans to speak on her passion for
professional development during her panel time at NCTE.
“Professional Development is a major goal for St. Thomas
Aquinas,” Collins has said. “It is
vital that our faculty be open to discovering new and effective ways of
developing our students’ minds, and to be willing to put in the necessary time
to become expert at these techniques. Mariah has been more than willing to be a
trailblazer in this regard.”
St. Thomas Aquinas has long prided itself on its academic
successes. Students at STA
consistently produce scores above both the state and national level. In
addition, the school has devoted efforts to developing and implementing
programs as well as investing in the necessary infrastructure to facilitate
those programs.
However, as Collins adds, “we view both our teachers and
students as true resources for the local community and the world at large. St.
Thomas has made great strides in many areas, from community outreach to
academically-oriented programs. That’s why we have also encouraged our faculty
to share their successes in education, service and other programs with other
organization.”
Among the programs that St. Thomas Aquinas has developed
recently include its “Saints Taking Action Day of Service,” a summer reading
program, and an independent study program.
“We are very proud that Mariah has been selected to share
her insights and experiences to a national audience. We know that they will find her views as compelling and
professional as we do,” Collins said.
Each year, the NCTE Annual Convention draws thousands of
K-12 teachers, college faculty, administrators, and other educational
professionals from around the world. They gather to hear award-winning
speakers, attend idea-packed sessions, share best practices, participate in
workshops, and test the latest teaching materials. The 2012 Annual Convention
will be held November 15-18. For more information, visit
http://www.ncte.org/annual.
