Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1297492
CONGRATULATIONS TO WEA MEMBER ALEXIS BARNEY ON WINNING THE 2021 WYOMING TEACHER OF THE YEAR AWARD! ALEXIS TEACHES FOURTH AND FIFTH GRADE AT EVANSVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN CASPER. WEA NEWS HAD THE CHANCE TO SIT DOWN WITH BARNEY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HER TEACHING PHILOSOPHY, HOW SHE IS CARING FOR STUDENTS' SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, AND HER APPROACH TO BRINGING MAGIC INTO THE CLASSROOM. TEACHER OF THE YEAR "I feel so humbled and honored," Barney told WEA News. "This is something that I definitely don't take lightly. It's a privilege to represent Wyoming Education." Natrona County EA President and NEA Director, Dirk Andrews taught at Evansville Elementary with Barney. He encouraged her to apply for the award. "Alexis is an absolute rock star," said Andrews. She really excels at engaging her students and buil ding relationships and making learning fun for students. "Learning shouldn't be a mundane routine, but rather it should be an exciting experience that gets students out of their seats, talking, creating, sharing, celebrating, and applying," said Barney. She shared with WEA News that excitement and educator engagement are essential to students' best learning experience. "This involves the educators actual ly being excited about what they are teaching! If we aren't, how can we expect the students to be? Educators must look for ways, however big or small, to bring fun, magical experiences to the classroom." In times that are far from ordinary, educators are going to their greatest lengths to be extraordinary. "Social-emotional learning is paramount. As educators, we need to help our students learn to problem solve, build resiliency, and learn to cope when they are faced with challenges," said Barney. "At this point, students will not be able or willing to learn academic skills until their emotional needs are met. It is imperative that educators take the time to build positive and trusting relationships with their students, dedicate time to weekly conversations, scenarios, role-playing, and mindfulness acti vities that assist in building emotional skills, and understand that this will be an ongoing conversation that will require repetition, patience, and empathy. After all, we are all in this together, and we are stronger together." Alexis hopes that, above all else, students leave her classroom knowing one thing: "When any student enters my classroom, I work to ensure that they know they are valued," said Ba rney. "Further, working at a Title 1 school, I love offering them a safe and loving environment where they recognize their value, voice, and the strong impact that they can have, no matter their background or abilities." Barney told WEA News that she holds her students to high expectations, both in learning and life. "I work very hard to build positive relationships with each student to build mutual respe ct within the classroom, both teacher to student and student to student," she said. "When the students know that they are respected and cared about as people, they will be more apt to give respect and show kindness to others. I take a very proactive approach in holding them to high expectations of behavior and decorum. I love inspiring my students to recognize their uniqueness and to hold themselves to hi gh expectations for their own lives." As educators, we all have different talents and strengths that can be shared in collaboration to leverage our collective strength. By doing this, we can enhance the craft of best teaching practices and, more importantly, show our students the value of community and teamwork on a larger scale. 2021 — Alexis Barney, 2021 WY Teacher of the Year WYOMING