BOWIE, Md. — In order to make a difference in the lives of students, teachers must bring a sense of dedication into the classroom and look beyond the desire for a hefty salary, proclaimed a highly acclaimed Maryland teacher Tuesday while urging college students at a town hall meeting to consider teaching as a profession.
“Let’s face it. No one goes into teaching (for money),” says 2009 Maryland Teacher of the Year Williams Thomas to applause on Tuesday as a panelist at the U.S. Department of Education’s TEACH campaign at Bowie State University.
Thomas said when he won the Maryland Teacher of the Year award, his students assumed he wanted to work at a better school and asked him where he was headed next.
“I said, ‘Here,’” answered Thomas, who teaches Advanced Placement government at Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High School in Prince George’s County. “I said, ‘This is the best school.’”
Other award-winning teachers told similar stories of dedication during the town hall, part of TEACH’s campaign to get more college students, particularly those from diverse backgrounds, to join the ranks of America’s educators.
Special education teacher RaeShauna Mboma, PG County’s 2011 Teacher of the Year, spoke of a student who said she’d give her a hug the next day but died unexpectedly that night.
“From that point on, I knew that I had to take on every day as an educator as if it were my last day,” Mboma said.
