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Arts education is the perfect platform for students to discover the importance and joy of using their creative minds. Most importantly, the arts help students better understand and embrace the human spirit.”-Laura Jean Reed, Music Teacher ,Stone Academy of Communication Arts With these words, Stone Academy of Communication Arts music teacher Laura Jean Reed has been named one of the state’s top five finalists for the 2008-09 South Carolina Teacher of the Year. She will compete this spring to represent more than 50,000 South Carolina teachers in the National Teacher of the Year Program. The announcement naming the 2008-09 South Carolina Teacher of the Year will be made April 25 in Columbia. South Carolina’s new Teacher of the Year receives a $25,000 cash award, a Dell laptop computer, and a BMW Z-4 Roadster to use for one year. The four remaining finalists receive $10,000 each, and local district teachers of the year receive $1,000 each. “It is exciting to have Mrs. Reed representing Greenville County as one of the state’s most exceptional teachers,” said Superintendent Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher. “Her involvement in activities within the school and in the community provides her many opportunities to positively impact students with her enthusiasm, energy and compassion for learning.” Mrs. Reed has taught music for 21 years, the last six at Stone Academy of Communication Arts. She explains how one teacher influenced her for life. “At the early age of 13, I was invited by my music teacher, Betty Carter, to assist her in working with the children’s choir. I observed Mrs. Carter as she taught through a variety of modalities and I witnessed the effects her methods had on her students’ understanding, she said. “Even though I could not possibly understand at the time the importance of such practices, I knew that I was witnessing great teaching in action.” After earning a bachelor of arts in music from Furman University, Mrs. Reed taught at Taylors Elementary for 15 years. Her career also includes teaching stints at a private child development center, the Governor’s School for the Arts, and Furman University. “I believe that the student, not the discipline being taught, is the center of the educational equation. As a music teacher, my duty is not to teach children music, but instead, to teach children through music,” she explained. “I believe that a teacher must find beauty and worth in every student and help students believe in themselves.” Her classroom is filled with enthusiasm, energy, and kindness. “I know the most effective method of teaching is to model it,” said Mrs. Reed. “Every time I have the privilege of helping a student make a discovery, neither of us knows where that discovery or that newfound understanding will lead or how many people may be influenced by it.” This outstanding teacher summarizes her reasons for teaching with this profound statement, “It is my hope that my greatest contributions may never to be known to me, but may live in some small way within the students who have passed my way.” Greenville County Schools boasts five previous South Carolina Teachers of the Year. They are Jane Satterfield, Mauldin High, 1976; James Mattos, Berea High, 1978; Sara Payne, Greenville High; 1981; Fanya Paouris, League Academy, 1984; and Dodie Magill, Pelham Road Elementary, 1993. (Image provided by Greenville County Schools.)
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