Editors Note: This is the first story in a series profiling employees in the Mantua Township School District who were given the Teacher or Educational Services Professional of the Year distinctions.
The Mantua Township School District announced its Teacher and Educational Services Professionals of the Year for Sewell Elementary School in the late winter. Katie Crumley and Joann Crouthamel, respectively, were honored.
The two said they wouldn’t be honored for their work if they hadn’t received a constant amount of support from both the district and their colleagues.
“In the school, we’re a close network of teachers and we work so well together,” said Crumley, a kindergarten in-class support teacher for special education students. “We’re only as good as the team we’re surrounded by. I think they have helped me become the teacher that I am today, and they have a part in this.”
“The community we have is wonderful,” said Crouthamel, who is a basic skills instructor. “I’ve always felt supported, wanted and needed in this district. When you feel like you’re an important piece, you want to do well. It’s nice that they recognize the effort you put in.”
Crouthamel added the board of education, superintendent and Sewell School Principal Jennifer Connell give the teachers freedom to decide on how they’re going to teach students and provide them with necessary tools to do it effectively.
In the classroom, Crouthamel said she looks forward to teaching “Choose Love” to the students, which she learned about following a previous character education conference in Washington, D.C. The program, she added, allows the students to relax and “share their feelings and say things they probably would not feel as comfortable saying.”
She added the instruction helps teachers address the emotional needs that kids may have when they’re having struggles learning. She said with it, she can see that a kid may act out in class because they’re in need of something, and not to be disrespectful.
“It’s nice because I feel like we get a chance to meet all of their needs,” said Crouthamel. “With this new program we have with just preschool and kindergarten here, there’s not the distraction of the older kids, so it’s like a little home for them.”
Crumley said in her classroom, as she’s with another teacher, they will often utilize guided reading, small group or multi-sensory instruction to help kindergarteners learn their words and other basic skills more easily.
“One of the things I love about kindergarten is the ‘light bulb’ moments [when] all of a sudden, things start to click,” said Crumley. “You have a child who comes in September who can barely write their names, and now can read.”
She recalled a moment in her classroom where she was teaching students about summer and the way the sun is positioned during that time, and students began to understand how the seasons generally work. Students, she added, began to inquire more on the concept following the lesson.
Crumley said she also tries to “spark the fun in learning” by teaching in innovative means such as spelling with Play-Doh, sand or shaving cream. She said it gives students the chance to learn in a more relaxed way and to not get as frustrated if it was done on a chalkboard or if they spelt the words aloud.
“[Teaching] is a continual process of learning how to do your job better,” said Crumley. “There are cases when a child is learning something, and it’s not clicking for them, so you re-evaluate it, re-approach it and try to change up the method.”
