Teachers of the Month: Jennifer Stangland and Kristy Morrison
We’re happy to wrap up the school year by announcing our April and May Teachers of the Month, Ms. Jennifer Stangland and Ms. Kristy Morrison from Galileo High School!
This spring, we partnered with Ms. Stangland and Ms. Morrison for the annual Young Authors’ Book Project, our most intensive publishing project of the year which results in a professional, nationally-distributed anthology of student writing. Our tutors worked with two tenth-grade classes twice a week for five weeks as they wrote, edited, and polished their pieces. The end result is We All Belong, a beautiful publication with 51 student voices on the idea of borders; whether those were physical borders, emotional borders, or any other borders in the students’ lives. This project would not have been possible without the guidance of these two teachers.
It was an honor for us to partner with Ms. Morrison and Ms. Stangland for this project and to give them these awards. They both blew us away with their kindness, hard work, and classroom culture. Both of these teachers are great at what they do, and they each amazed us in different ways.
Ms. Morrison pushes her students to think deeply about literature, and to make connections and look within themselves to understand an author’s words. It’s clear that students who take her class are impacted for years to come, as she has a constant stream of visitors who have already graduated, and make sure they come back to check in regularly.
Ms. Stangland is an amazing educator who cares for and encourages each and every person who walks into her classroom. We are so inspired by her work to make literature accessible and engaging for her tenth grade students. She is a deeply dedicated and appreciated member of her community.
There are so many good things we can continue to say about both of these teachers, but most of all we want to say thank you both for being part of the Young Authors’ Book Project. Congratulations to you and your students, now published authors! We know you will continue to be great assets to the Galileo High School community.