Kelle Sumrall (B.A.Ed. ’02, M.Ed. ’04, Ed.D. ’10), a Corinth native and an alumna of the UM School of Education, is one of six teachers nationwide to receive the Robert E. Yager Excellence in Teaching Award from the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).
The prestigious honor is presented each year to six, K-12 science teachers who display innovation and excellence in the classroom. Sumrall, along with the other Yager awardees, will be recognized this summer at the annual National Congress on Science Education in Buffalo, New York.
“I was pretty shocked when I got the email telling me I won the award,” Sumrall said. “I look at winning the Yager award as such an incredible honor, but now a bit more pressure has been put on me to set higher goals for myself, my classroom and to help other teachers to do better. It’s very motivating.”
But setting higher standards won’t be a problem for the award-winning teacher. Sumrall strives to help her students set goals everyday in her classroom and to instill in them a passion for lifelong learning.
“My philosophy with education is I want them to set goals,” said Sumrall. “I want my students, whether they’re in college or middle school, to set goals for themselves and to achieve them. And, I want them to know that if they fail, that was just one door that closed—learn from everything. It’s okay to make mistakes, but you just have to learn from them.”
Being nationally recognized for her achievements in the classroom is a special experience for Sumrall. The seventh grade science teacher at Lafayette Middle School and former adjunct professor at the SOE, always dreamt of becoming a teacher.
“I knew I was going to be a teacher when I was a 6-year-old. I knew that teaching was what I was supposed to do,” Sumrall said. “From then on, I watched the teachers I had in school and really paid attention to how they interacted with me. I would say to myself, ‘That’s the kind of teacher I want to be.’ ”
For more information about NSTA awards, visit: http://www.nsta.org/.
By Liz McCormick
