Three win Teacher of the Year honor
Published: February 25, 2006
When Sarasota High science teacher Laurie Saslow got a call to attend a last-minute mandatory assembly, she wasn’t exactly excited. She’d planned to give a test.
Her mood changed fast when she discovered it was a ceremony honoring her as Teacher of the Year for the district’s high schools.
“This is what makes it all worth it,” said a trembling and smiling Saslow as she accepted hugs from students and fellow teachers.
“It means so much more that this came from teachers because they know how hard we work to be good teachers and to have them see that in me means a lot.”
By midafternoon Thursday, the teachers of the year for middle and elementary schools would be similarly ambushed by a crew of people from the district offices dubbed the “prize patrol.”
At Glenallen Elementary in North Port, second- and third-grade reading and language arts teacher Lisa Blevins was giving students an FCAT-inspired pep talk when the patrol burst into the school media center with balloons.
“I thought all of this was happening March 15,” Blevins said with a laugh, referring to the date of the district Teacher of the Year luncheon.
Blevins, who has taught for six years in Sarasota County, said teaching has to be a passion. “You don’t always have to do everything perfect,” she said. “But if you have enough passion, determination and faith, anything is possible.”
Heron Creek Middle School math teacher Eric Idoyaga was surprised at lunch.
Principal Scott Wilson had the school band hiding behind a stage curtain in the cafeteria while Idoyaga was getting his students settled in.
The jig was up when the band started to play and the curtains rolled away, revealing Idoyaga’s wife, Debbie, and their three children standing onstage.
Debbie said she’d kept the plans quiet since last week and encouraged him to wear something nice to work. He didn’t get the hint, and was wearing his usual polo shirt and slacks.
“It means a lot for your peers to recognize that at Heron Creek we’re doing a good job,” said Idoyaga, who has taught in Sarasota County for three years.
Wilson declared today Eric Idoyaga Day at Heron Creek Middle in North Port. He said Idoyaga deserves the award because he lives out the school’s philosophy.
“There’s really nothing at this school that his thumbprint is not on,” he said.
Superintendent Gary Norris said surprising the top three teachers in the district is a highlight of the year for him.
“We get to showcase our very fine teachers,” he said. “These three people really typify all of our excellent teachers.
On March 15, either Saslow, Blevins or Idoyaga will be selected district Teacher of the Year at the Teachers of the Year luncheon. That person will have a chance to be named Florida’s Teacher of the Year.
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