Arizona Teacher of the Year

Beth Maloney

Arizona Teacher of the Year: Public education binds us together

Public education binds together students, families and community. But it’s the stories within the walls of schools that create the foundation for future society.

That’s the message 2014 Arizona Teacher of the Year Beth Maloney shared with Arizona leaders during the opening session of the ASBA/ASA Annual Conference Thursday morning in Phoenix.

Ms. Maloney is a 13-year education veteran who now teaches fifth grade at Dysart Unified's Sunset Hills Elementary. She will represent Arizona in the national Teacher of the Year competition in Washington, D.C. next year.

During her address, Ms. Maloney told the audience the story of a young Down syndrome student’s first day of school as a kindergartener. He joined Sunset on a Friday, when the youngest students took part in a “sing and read” event in the cafeteria.

It was loud and a little overwhelming for the boy. But his teacher came up with an idea: she placed a table in the hallway so the boy could see and hear what was taking place.

Ms. Maloney saw tears going down the face of the boy’s mom. The mom then expressed concerns about whether the school would be a good fit for her son.

“I promise you,” Ms. Maloney told the mom. “He will sing and take part by the end of the school year.”

Inch by inch, that table was moved toward the door and eventually into the cafeteria.

“By May, he was singing and reading like every other student. Singing and reading at the top of his lungs,” she said. “These are the small victories people outside our field do not hear on the news, but impact the lives of our students every day. That’s what we do in our public schools. We educate everyone.”

That student is now a seventh-grader at Sunset Hills who has taught empathy, compassion and friendship to the entire school community.

“Public schools are a shared experience despite our nation’s diversity and vast size. Public education is the glue that holds our society together. It enriches and enables us all,” she said.

ASPRA Reporter Michelle Reese, Higley Unified School District