Higley's Teachers of the Year

On May 13th, 2009, Your Friendly Higley Historians were honored to be in attendance of a very special "first" in Higley schools. The evening launched Higley Unified School District's "Teacher of the Year" award ceremony, giving accolades to one exemplary teacher from each of the nine schools.

For a small back story, Higley School District was founded in 1909 with one K-8 school. The Rittenhouse School in Queen Creek (current home to the San Tan Historical Society) was originally in the school district when it opened its doors in 1922 and remained until Queen Creek started their own district in 1947. The little Higley School braved many years by itself until 2000 to 2009 when the district added nine new schools, including the opening of Centennial Elementary this fall.

During the past 100 years, the faculty, staff and volunteers, many one in the same, have been integral to the district's survival and more importantly, to the students' success. Now we may all have our opinions and know our facts as to what makes a good teacher and a bad one, but it is undisputed that the teachers who make learning fun and memorable (*sometimes this isn't always fun), are worth their weight in gold. In Higley, there have been many who have risen to the occasion and remained tirelessly committed in finding ways to engage their students in education.

Carol Johnson, science teacher between 1974 and 2004, thrilled her students arranging a "magic show" of the year's science lessons which were demonstrated to the extremely impressed younger students. Ann Udall, librarian, orchestrated the "Book Brigade" in 1989 when the new library was built. She lined the students from the new building to the old and, in a lesson of teamwork, they passed the books along to each other until the new shelves were filled. As noted in MHH!'s post "Higley Elementary Cornerstone Contents Revealed," Sue Sossaman instructed and made her students marvel in the way of being fearless, especially when it came to snakes!

Wednesday evening's ceremony was 100 years in the making. It would have been impossible to name all of the teachers from Higley whose commitment to education has left a lasting impression; but let it be known, on the evening of May 20th, 2009, before the eyes of students, colleagues and the business community that depends on our best and brightest, we clapped for each and every one of them and the difference they made in the life of a child.

Thank you kindly Higley Teachers of the Year, Yesteryears, and Future - YOU make US proud. We are eternally grateful for your support in the past and excited to see your efforts in the years to come.

Higley Unified honors nine teachers of the year, Emily Gersema, azcentral.com - 5/15/09