Teacher of the Year to Speak at Southeastern

by SOUTHEASTERN PUBLIC INFORMATION
February 6, 2009

DURANT, Okla. – The Student Oklahoma Education Association (SOEA) will be hosting the 2009 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year, Heather Sparks. The event will begin at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 10, in the Southeastern Oklahoma State University Student Union Auditorium, located on the 2nd floor. It is free and open to the public.

Sparks is an Algebra I and Pre-Algebra teacher at Taft Middle School in Oklahoma City. She holds a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, master's degree in Elementary Education, both from Oklahoma City University, and has earned National Board Certification. She has 15 years teaching experience and is the recipient of the 2007 Presidential Award for excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Throughout most of her life, Sparks has been a teacher of some sort: a teacher's assistant as a child, Sunday School instructor, summer camp instructor, and a writing coach. It wasn't until she accepted her first middle school position, a Title I Math Enhancement position, that she knew that her true purpose and passion was middle school math. Her mission is to truly engage students in thinking and learning mathematically so they can experience the power it holds and "yes, even how fun it can be!"

Her philosophy is that all things are possible through positive attitude, maintaining high expectations, connecting class work to real life, communicating effectively and engaging students in meaningful tasks. To her colleagues, she advises that relying solely on textbooks can lead to lessons missing crucial elements of conceptual development and that they should trust their judgment and content knowledge and take professional risks to improve as teachers.