ARTICLE TOOLS

E-mail story

Printer friendly version

iPod friendly version

Share This

Text Size: A A A A

Dalton: Milken winner makes lesson relevant

By: Beverly Carroll
(Contact)

Included in this article

Jill Ryerson

DALTON, Ga. -- Ask Jill Ryerson why she thinks she was selected to receive a Milken Educator Award, dubbed the Oscars of education, and she will tell you she hasn't a clue.

Get her to talk about teaching and what's important, and clues to her success weave all through the conversation.

"I try to keep it real and meaningful for the students," the eighth-grade language arts teacher said, sitting in a classroom during her planning period. "You can't just teach to the test, or use worksheets all the time. There will be some rote memorization. But when you get out in the real world, you don't sit at desks, in rows, in silence."

Ms. Ryerson and Wendy McCarron, math teacher at Northview High School in Duluth, Ga., received the award during a ceremony in Hollywood, Calif., in March. Each teacher received $25,000 that she may spend as she wishes.

Ms. Ryerson exemplifies the style of teaching that all of her teachers at North Whitfield Middle School model, principal Andrea Bradley said.

"They go way beyond the (Georgia) state standards when they are teaching," Ms. Bradley said. "They are all about finding what works to engage the children."

She "keeps it real" by using real-world events in lesson plans. Using Earth Day as a theme, she created a game with interview questions and answers for primatologist Jane Goodall, famous for her studies of chimpanzees. Students competed by matching answers to questions, seeing who could get the most correct matches in a set time.

"Sometimes you have to trick them into learning," she said. "They are having fun and they don't notice the learning."

Since the Milken Family Foundation was founded in 1982, more than 20,000 educators have been recognized.

At the awards gala in March, according to the foundation Web site, U.S. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., told the educators: "When it comes to improving student achievement, nothing compares to the amazing power of a first-rate teacher."

Ms. Bradley said the network that Ms. Ryerson now brings to the school and her colleagues will be a valuable resource.

"Not only will the students benefit, but she will have a whole world of contacts she can call on," she said.