Friday's Internet Edition, July 25, 2008.
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Three Thomasville-area teachers were honored by Wal-Mart stores in the area as their "Teacher of the Year" during National Teacher Appreciation Week, which ends today. Those honored were Mariel Gomez de la Torre of Thomasville Middle School, Teresa Harden of Hasty Elementary School and Holly Mosher of Ledford Middle School.
Under the rules of this program, one teacher is selected as a "local winner" by each Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club store throughout the United States. Gomez de la Torre was selected by Thomasville’s Wal-Mart, while Harden received her award from the Wal-Mart in High Point. Mosher was selected by the Sam’s Club in Winston-Salem.
Teachers are nominated to these Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores by shoppers and other people in the community. Detailed applications go with the nominations. At that point management of the individual stores decide whom to be named "Teacher of the Year" by their respective stores.
"After we narrowed the nominations down, we started making some phone calls," said Stuart Thomas. Manager of Thomasville’s Wal-Mart, which awarded Gomez de la Torre. "This lady was somebody who, not only the students liked and had a lot of respect for, but also the administrators had a great deal of respect for. From the comments we received, she certainly had a love for teaching."
Gomez de la Torre, a native of Peru, lived three years in the Netherlands, her husband’s native country, before moving here three years ago on the Visiting International Faculty Program.
"Winning this award has been a very nice experience," Gomez de la Torre said. "I feel excited and all my students are excited."
So is Georgia Marshall, principal of Thomasville Middle.
"Mariel’s an all-around teacher," Marshall said. "She’s not just a teacher in the classroom, she’s a teacher in the community. "Before school, after school and all day, she’s just totally involved with the students and their families. She is certainly an asset to our school and to the children that she serves."
Gomez de la Torre uses her foreign background to her advantage and to the advantage of her students. Not only does she work with Hispanic children, but she gives all students at Thomasville Middle a first-hand look at the Peruvian and Dutch ways of life.
"I love not only teaching, but also sharing my culture," she said. "Some kids here have never been out of Thomasville. Through me, they’re able to see the world. "
Because of her language skills and rapport with Hispanic students Gomez de la Torre teaches all three grades at the middle school. Among other extra-curricular activities she takes charge of there is its March of Dimes Drive, in which her class has won first place in all three years she has been at Thomasville Middle. She is a mentor teacher and has initiated six fellow teachers into her program. She also works in pregnancy prevention and with the 180 Group that tries to turn things around for dropouts.
"I think the only way to better yourself is through education," Gomez de la Torre said. "I hope all my students finish school and are able to follow their dream."
Wal-Mart donates $1,000 to each school that has a Teacher of the Year on its faculty. The teacher also gets a $100 gift card to be used in buying classroom supplies.
"We did a lot of research to choose our winner," said Patty Kerns, assistant manager and director of community involvement of High Point’s Wal-Mart, which selected Harden. "The teacher we picked goes beyond the classroom with her work. She makes packets up for students to take home with them. She filled the whole application out on the front and started writing on the back."
Obviously Harden had a lot to say. She actually attended Hasty as a youngster and is finishing up her 23rd year as a teacher there. Among her students were Tristan Todd, who went on to become principal of Ledford High and Brad Hoover, fullback of the Carolina Panthers. She has taught third and fourth grades, but for the last six years she has taught kindergarten.
"The children grow so much during their year of kindergarten that you feel like you’ve had more of a part in getting them started," Harden said. "They not only have to learn the education part, but they also have to learn to get along with other children as well."
Jane Withers, principal of Hasty, also realizes the importance of kindergarten.
"A lot of kindergarten children have never been in any settings other than their home," Withers said. "Not only is Teresa their teacher, she’s their leader, their social director, their planner, their bathroom monitor and their cafeteria manager. She’s everything."
Harden is also the right person to be in such a responsible position.
"Teresa is steady as a rock, giving it 100 percent everyday," Withers said.
"She has a heart for children, the expertise to teach them with the very best of practices, and the wisdom to coordinate all the things that go into teaching the whole child."
Harden realizes that each child is different, as well as special.
"All children can learn," Harden said. "They just don’t want to learn the same way or at the same pace."
Harden was nominated by a former principal, while Mosher, a sixth grade teacher, was nominated by one of her former students.
"We learned that Holly actually changed the lives of her students by actually making them more responsible for their school work," said Michella Hairston, front-end manager of the Winston-Salem Sam’s Club. "She also made parents more responsible for their child’s work by having them sign off on it."
Once children have moved beyond Mosher’s class, many continue to seek her advice.
"I try to stay open with all of the students who I’ve had in the past,"
Mosher said. "I have students come by and get help in either academics or other issues. Some just want to come buy and talk about things that are going on in their lives. My door’s always open to them."
This open-door policy is what got Mosher nominated for this award.
"The way she communicates with her students has a lot to do with why she is so highly regarded," said Evan Myers, principal of Ledford Middle. "I can see that even with the students she has right now."
Staff Writer Kevin Reid can be reached at 472-9500, ext. 230, or at reid@tvilletimes.com.