Love of Teaching Award in Honor of Mark Humphreys 2018

 

Ten years ago, a group of parents initiated a conversation with us about ways to honor then-Grade 3 teacher Mark Humphreys' contributions to St. Patrick’s.  The outcome was that a named fund was created to recognize Mark and thank him for his service to the Day School.  This fund, the Love of Teaching Award in Honor of Mark Humphreys, provides a new recipient each year with a stipend to augment his/her individual class’s instructional program or personal professional development opportunities during that year.

Each year, we invite nominations of potential honorees for the Love of Teaching Award from members of the faculty and staff for consideration by the Division Heads, who in turn make a recommendation to the Head of School.  

Here are the qualities we set forth for nominees for the Love of Teaching Award:

• a dedication and determination to help each child develop to his/her fullest potential;

• a clear sense of teaching as a craft at which the nominee always strives to get better;

• a determination and willingness to find what works for each student;

• an understanding of the importance of collaboration with colleagues; and,

• the conviction that the best students s/he has ever taught are those who are currently in his/her class.

 

We ask faculty and staff who are nominating someone for the Love of Teaching Award to write a brief statement as to how that particular individual displays those qualities.

“I can’t think of a teacher more universally loved,” said one colleague. “She is the master orchestra conductor for her students, drawing them in, helping them hear one another, noticing the details of their work, and appreciating them for it. She is a master of classroom management, and her students know that she respects each of them as much as she commands their respect. She draws the larger world into her classroom in age-appropriate ways, allowing all of her students to feel safe as she presses into often complicated issues of our day.”

“Having two very different children who both had the good fortune to have [her] as their teacher,” said another colleague, “I can attest to how committed she is to meeting each child as an individual. She works tirelessly to give the support that is needed to every child. Her commitment is demonstrated in the way she teaches and talks to her students and in how she carefully partners with other teachers and the parents of her students. Everyone is treated with respect and, when she speaks to you, or your child, you get the sense that she is personally invested in what you are saying. She truly connects.”

This year, in what I am confident is a first, I will share what a student had to say about this teacher when he viewed her in the context of this award. “As soon as you walk into [her] classroom,” said the student, “you are surrounded by maps, and you can tell [she] loves geography and archaeology almost as much as teaching. When she teaches, she always has a huge smile on her face and is so excited about what she’s talking about you can’t help but be happy with her.”

These writers, colleagues and a student, are capturing the characteristics that recommend her for this award—passion, patience, a calm demeanor, a fundamental kindness—described as daily gifts to her students. It is with deep appreciation and immense pride that we honor such an individual this morning as the recipient of the Love of Teaching Award for the 2018-2019 school year. That individual is Grade 5 teacher Laura Philips.