Teachers don’t go into their chosen profession with the goal of seeking out accolades or winning awards.
But when that does happen, it certainly feels good.
That’s why Allegan High School English language arts teacher Jennifer Conrad couldn’t help but smile when she learned that the Van Andel Institute for Education had named her as one of this year’s ten Betty Van Andel “Teachers of Excellence” award winners.
“It’s nice to get recognition from people telling you that you’re doing a good job,” Ms. Conrad said. “Teaching is tough, so it’s nice to hear that from outside sources.”
Ms. Conrad received the award for her efforts in introducing project-based learning into her curriculum. This year, her American Humanities class studied the novel, “The Devil in the White City,” and as part of that unit, students researched and presented their ideas for a future World’s Fair to a group of area judges with various ties to the Allegan community. “It is a difficult book, so I was trying to think of ways that would make it more interesting,” Ms. Conrad said.
Since many of her American Humanities students are college bound, she wanted them to practice skills that would be beneficial to them later. “I know they are going to do a lot of presentations and research, but my experience has been that when you ask kids to do a presentation in front of classmates, they don’t take it particularly seriously,” Ms. Conrad said. “So I was like, ‘how can I make this more real?’ I was thinking about the (Allegan County Fair), and I thought they could research other fairs, make a proposal, and bring in community members to (judge them).”
Ms. Conrad said that as the result of COVID and subsequent online learning, education became more teacher-centered. She admitted it has been challenging to transition away from that as the needs of her students have changed. “There are times when I feel like I’m in the ruts with my teaching, especially since COVID,” she said. “This (project) was nice because it reminded me that the kids don’t need you to push them along every step of the way.”
In the face of these challenges, Ms. Conrad—a veteran teacher with 25 years of experience—is now relishing in the opportunity to create new and engaging projects for her students.
“You have to take advantage of your creativity and not just do whatever script you’re handed” she said. “I’m not very good at doing the same thing every year. Even though I do some of the same projects, I change up what pieces they’re reading. I try to do things where students have a little bit of choice.”
