Schools

Vernon's Teacher of the Year: "We Need to be Positive, Inspirational and Motivational Leaders"

The VCMS STEM program is a perfect match for her.

Vernon Teacher of the Year Jennifer Slater says she went into teaching because both her parents were teachers.

"I enjoyed growing up seeing the impact that they had on their students," she says. "I wanted to help students just like they both did."

Slater began her teaching career in 2004 after attending Central Connecticut State University for technology education.

She landed a job at VCMS and is now in her ninth year there.

"I love working at VCMS," she says. "We have a lot of amazing staff who do anything possible to encourage student learning, and we have a lot of amazing programs that are taking place within our school."

Being a technology education teacher makes the STEP program at VCMS - science, technology, engineering and math - that much more rewarding, she says.

"I love helping students learn how to problem-solve and bring their prior knowledge and real life skills into the classroom," Slater says.

Slater says the the most rewarding moments for her are, "when my students come back to me to say hello, and tell me that I was a part in creating who they are today - even if it was just by lending them an ear."

Slater says being chosen as Vernon's Teacher of the Year is "the most extraordinary honor of my career," but she says it's all about the faculty as a whole at VCMS.

"Every single person I work with is just as deserving of this award as I am," she says. "We teach because we love helping every child become the very best he or she can be. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing  students blossom into a successful adult or helping students reach the greatest potential they have within them. The work that we do as teachers is one of the most important jobs in the world. It is a team effort that creates the environment for each student to reach his or her potential. It doesn’t matter what subject you teach, what matters is that you are excited and eager to pass on what you know to our students and those around us."

Slater says the example teachers must set goes beyond the classroom.

"We cannot expect our students to be eager and excited to learn unless we are thrilled and eager to teach," she says. "We need to be positive, inspirational and motivational leaders to inspire our students to rise to greatness in their lives. Our jobs, as teachers, in my view go far beyond test scores and statistics as every child we teach has unlimited potential for greatness, success, happiness and joy."


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