Holcomb Elementary teacher celebrated with state award
Posted on Saturday, November 8, 2008
A Fayetteville school teacher has been named the Arkansas English Elementary Teacher of the Year by the Arkansas Council of Teachers of English Language Arts.
Holcomb Elementary fourth-grade teacher Helen Eaton is scheduled to receive the award Thursday during the ACTELA’s fall luncheon at the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock.
“ Most of all, I’m humbled because I just do what I’m supposed to do, ” Eaton said.
ACTELA is a statewide membership organization for instructors who teach English at various education levels, including elementary school, high school and college.
She was nominated by University of Arkansas professor Chris Goering, who directs the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project for area teachers during the summer.
“ I’m in my second year here, and Helen had been involved with the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project for about 10 years before her arrival, ” he said. “ She’s never going to be someone who looks for credit or recognition, she just does her job. The way she does her job goes above and beyond the call of duty. She’s pretty deserving. ”
Eaton said she was not expecting the award and was very skeptical of the e- mail that first informed her about the honor.
She has 23 years of experience teaching second through fourth grade. She has also been a writing teacher consulting for workshops and conferences at the University of Arkansas.
“ I taught four years in West Fork in second grade, and then six years at Asbell (in Fayetteville ), and I’ve been at Holcomb since it opened, ” she said.
Besides teaching and conducting workshops, Eaton has served as editor of two education books, “ Spark the Brain, Ignite the Pen: Quick Writes for Kindergarten Through High School Teachers and Beyond” and “ The Flavor of Our Words. ”
“‘ Spark the Brain, ’ the publisher has asked for a new edition, ” she said.
Eaton is the second Holcomb Elementary teacher to recently receive some sort of Teacher of he Year award.
Second-grade Ashley Jones was named the Sixth Street Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year last month. The award was based on an essay received from one of her students, Assistant Principal Janice Herring said.
Eaton said the school has many good teachers.
“ Holcomb Elementary School is filled with teachers of the year. It is just a great place to work, ” Eaton said.
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