District 203 honors two top teachers
Two Naperville Central High School teachers have been named among the district's cream of the crop.
Naperville Unit District 203 recently honored Spanish teacher Dave Davis with a Teacher of the Year Award and earth science teacher Megan Patterson with the Arlo Schilling First Year Teacher Award.
"I'm very, very proud and very excited to have two of our teachers recognized," Central Principal Bill Wiesbrook said. "I think that's terrific."
Davis has been teaching Spanish at Central for nine years and is also a mentor to teachers trying to attain National Board Certification.
He said he views teaching as a vocation, not just a job.
"What I enjoy most about being a teacher is that I can help ... mold young adults into positive individuals with good life skills as they grow up," Davis said. "And most importantly, I think it's important the kids are surrounded by good role models ... besides their parents."
When it comes to helping students become proficient in Spanish, Davis uses an approach called Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling.
"You bring the language alive through meaningful and contextual stories (auditorily) so they can hear and visually they can read and the key thing about it is it's personal to the kids' lives," he said.
Wiesbrook said Davis is committed to his students, making him an exceptional teacher.
"I think he prioritizes that the students are more important than his lesson plan and students are more important than worksheets and the students are more important maybe even than the curriculum," Wiesbrook said. "So he cares greatly for students."
When it comes to rookie teacher Megan Patterson, teaching is in her genes. Her father teaches at Naperville North High School and her mother is retired from teaching.
She was attending Illinois State University studying geology when the school started a new major for geology education and she decided to give it a try.
The first year of teaching can be a trying experience for some, but Patterson said helpful colleagues and great students made it a fun, albeit busy experience.
She tried to make her lessons enjoyable for students as well.
"I like to try and do a lot of technology ... and try to make games out of things as much as I can," she said. "If they're competing against each other they try harder sometimes."
Wiesbrook complimented Patterson's energy and enthusiasm.
"If you're a student in her class, even if you walk in and don't like science, after a while you think if she likes it this much there must be something good going on here," he said, "Her enthusiasm is contagious."