Kids know she cares
Published: September 28, 2006
Guion Creek Middle School science teacher Beth Rutz quietly made her way to Emily Ambriz’s desk.
The 11-year-old was crying because her beaded rope necklace — the one she never takes off because her mom gave it to her — broke during the sixth-grade honors science class.
Rutz calmed the girl and promised to help fix it after class, then excused her to the restroom.
“You are kind of a parent figure here,” Rutz, 27, said later. “Even the little trials and tribulations are important. If Emily needs me to do something, I’ll do it.
“Being a teacher is so much more than what I remember about sitting in class just listening.”
Rutz’s devotion to students inside and out of the classroom is why she has been named the Wal-Mart Indiana Teacher of the Year, said Guion Creek Principal Kurt Benjamin.
“She goes above and beyond to make sure students get it,” Benjamin said.
The award brings a $10,000 educational grant to the Pike Township middle school, which Rutz hopes goes toward technology for the school to use.
“Once again, she’s thinking of everyone else, like always,” Benjamin said.
Rutz’s love of anything froggy lets students work in a marshlike — and fun — environment. Plush animals, figurines, umbrellas, tablecloths, paintings and all sorts of frog paraphernalia adorn the classroom.
“As silly as it sounds, it’s kind of homey,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like a classroom.”
Other teachers and students often bring Rutz frog knick-knacks, and she estimates she has more than 1,000 pieces.
Rutz says she uses whatever it takes to teach her 155 sixth-graders. Class activities and games let students learn without even realizing it, and she allows them to retake exams. Students say Rutz is stern when she needs to be, and friendly and easygoing at other times.
“The kids like her because they know they can trust her,” Benjamin said. “Kids know when you care.”
Emily said she views Rutz as more than her science teacher.
“She is really funny, and she has a really good sense of humor,” Emily said. “Another teacher will just teach it to you and not take the time to work it out with you. She’s really helped me out.”
Rutz graduated from Purdue and began teaching four years ago. She said her teaching techniques come from her coworkers and from her own school experiences.
“I was that awkward kid,” she said. “I remember that.”
As the honors class ended, Emily approached Rutz with a worn-through black rope and several beads. Rutz attempted to fix the necklace as she spoke.
“They just need an advocate sometimes,” she said. “A lot of these kids have never heard that they’re amazing.”
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