Excellence in Education

2010 Colorado Teacher of the Year Finalists

 

Lynn Jackson
Grade 5
Eldorado K-8
Boulder Valley School District

Jackson says her teaching career began as soon as she could babysit. She says she was hooked by the laughter, love, smiles and creativity that flowed from children. In a career that has spanned 29 years and seven states, she feels her greatest contributions are related to student success, collegial respect and community collaboration. She says she creates an inclusive classroom where students feel safe to take risks, measure their own growth and understand their responsibility in being successful students.

 

Michelle Pearson
Teacher, Social Studies and Technology, grades 6-8
Hulstrom Options School

Adams 12 Five Star Schools

 

Pearson comes from a teaching family; both the maternal and paternal sides of her family had teachers in them, working in schools in the U.S. and Canada. She says her greatest accomplishments in education have not been what she’s done alone, but what students, families, colleagues and the community do together. Pearson believes standards are the key to teaching. She says in a true standards-based environment students should understand what they are learning, why they are learning it and be able to connect their work to their world.