‘I was shocked and surprised and felt like I didn’t deserve it’
12/12/19
Teacher of the Year award winner Elizabeth Halstead, talks with Junior Max Torres about a missing assignment on Nov.14. (ESSEX POTTS|SNN)
BY YURI DE JESUS
SNN Staff Writer
Lakewood High School English teacher Elizabeth Halstead was named Lakewood Teacher of the Year.
“I was shocked and surprised and felt like I didn’t deserve it,” she said. “I think it is difficult to pick one person, because there are so many great teachers.”
Halstead got her undergraduate degree at Florida State University in 2000 and her master’s degree in education from Hunter College in New York City in 2007.
At first, Halstead said, she did not want to be a teacher. She wanted to be a writer. But once she was not successful in the literary world, she went back to school to get her master’s in education.
“I said it should not be this hard to do something you love, so I went back to college,” Halstead said.
In previous years the principal, assistant principals and other administrators chose the teacher of the year for Lakewood. However, this year the teachers voted for the teacher of the year based on a rubric that measured: advancing student learning, instructional practice, leadership and community participation.
Other teachers nominated were art teacher Jayce Ganchou and math teachers Kayla Smith and Melissa Ostrowski. Principal Erin Savage said she was happy for Halstead.
“She is humble, and she just wants to see kids succeed. She’s just an awesome teacher,” Savage said.
Once teachers win at the school level, they go to districts and campaign for themselves to win districtwide. They announce the winner for the district in January at the Evening of Excellence. Halstead, however, is not a finalist. Still, Halstead’s students agree that she deserves the honor.
Senior Kayla Oates said Halstead once stayed after school for an hour to help her with her college essay. “She is dedicated to her job and her students,” she said.
Junior Joel Mendez has Halstead for AP Literature. “No one is left behind in that class,” he said. Mendez also said she has a great sense of style.
“She deserves (to be Teacher of the Year), because every day she has a new outfit. Her drip is out of control,” he said.