THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 5, 1995 TAG: 9501040147
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
AS A TEACHER AT Robertson Elementary School, Michelle R. Sowerby has worn many hats. She is a librarian, reading resource teacher, media liaison and a member of both the Business Partnership Committee and Youth Advisory Council.
Sowerby also serves as a mentor for new teachers, coordinator for the parent-volunteer program and assistant coordinator for career day at Robertson Elementary. A member of the school courtesy committee, she has selected menus and greeted visitors on Grandparents Day during American Education Week. And she has helped answer students' questions about their homework on a schoolwide Homework Hotline.
The secret to Sowerby's success, however, may be her love for children and her desire to motivate them to learn. She strives to make her lessons exciting by using audio-visual equipment or playing learning games or musical instruments. Her caring and nurturing attitude has provided a warm, safe environment for her students.
Sowerby was recently selected by the Suffolk Reading Council to represent Suffolk Public Schools as the 1994-95 Reading Teacher of the Year. She will now compete for the Virginia State Reading Association's Reading Teacher of the Year, which carries an $800 cash award.
``You never know what she will do to get her lesson across . . . whether it is having the children sit around her like Mother Goose, expressively reading to them or singing songs to make her lessons clearer and more exciting,'' said Robertson Principal William Krupp. ``Her class is an adventure and always fun. Any child who enters her class is welcomed with open arms.''
``My first priority is the children,'' Sowerby said. ``I enjoy being with the children.''
A native of McKeesport, Pa., Sowerby has the mildest form of spina bifida and has had reconstructive surgery on her feet.
``It has never held me back,'' she said. ``I was on the flag color guard at high school.''
Sowerby received a bachelor's degree with a dual major in elementary education, kindergarten through sixth grade, and library science, K-12, at Slippery Rock (Pa.) University. She also received a master's degree in elementary education with an emphasis in early childhood at Old Dominion University.
In 1984, Sowerby was recruited by Suffolk City Schools and hired as a librarian at Robertson Elementary. After transferring to Driver Elementary for a year, she returned to Robertson, where she teaches kindergarten through fifth grade.
Sowerby instructs the students in library, dictionary and map skills and teaches them how to read a graph, chart and card catalog.
``If I choose a book to read to the children on ducks, we sing `duck' songs, read `duck' poems, make finger puppets and watch a movie on ducks,'' she said. ``I make up songs or sing childhood songs I've remembered.''
At Thanksgiving, Sowerby taught the children an Indian stick game she had learned in Girl Scouts. Fifth-graders, who had mastered the beat and rhythm of the game, performed during the Pilgrim and Indian feast at the school.
Sowerby volunteered to serve as Resource Teacher for Whole Language for grades three through five at Robertson. She meets with the teachers periodically to choose a theme that may be explored in six-week increments. All subjects are then taught with a concentration on that particular theme.
``I help coordinate standards of learning given to the school system by the Virginia State Department'' of Education, she said. ``I pull all materials on a certain subject, such as books and film strips and help think of ideas to go along with it.''
As a mentor, Sowerby helps new teachers with discipline problems, lesson plans and makes certain they are aware of the policies of the Suffolk City Schools. She also was assigned to reinforce work study skills in preparation for the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.
``Through her efforts, our children on the average score at the lowest at the 55th percentile to a high of 68th percentile on all grade levels tested,'' Krupp said. ``This has been a strong and consistent trend since she has been working with our children on these skills in all grades.''
Sowerby is a member of Great Fork Baptist Church, where she teaches an adult Sunday school class. Her hobbies include painting shirts, cross-stitch and making jewelry.
She and her husband, Jay, live in the Oak Ridge section with their 2-year-old daughter, Amanda. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Michelle Sowerby will represent Suffolk Public Schools as the
1994-95 Reading Teacher of the Year in the state competition.
by CNB