Hall's Cross Roads Teacher Has McNight Out

Vocal music teacher Christian Slattery Sr. of  got a super-sized recognition Monday night. One of seven Maryland Teacher of the Year finalists, Slattery was honored at a McDonald's charity event in Aberdeen.

At McTeacher of the Year Night, an event co-sponsored by the South Philadelphia Road  and the Maryland State Board of Education, Slattery was presented with a $500 gift card for school supplies and weekly free McCafé beverages for a year. Twenty percent of all food and beverage purchases during the three-hour event will be donated to Hall’s Cross Roads Elementary.

“You don’t expect this. You just go to work, do what you do for the kids, and want them to succeed in life," Slattery said. "But when you’re honored, you’re ecstatic. This is just amazing to have this much support in the community. I love teaching here so much that I don’t want to leave. I love teaching the kids, and the community is amazing, very supportive toward the arts and music education.”

Slattery is in his 10th year of teaching at Hall’s Cross Roads Elementary, where he first started a career in vocal music education. He was selected in April as .

“I love working with the young to inspire them for a life-long education," Slattery said. "At that age, they soak up a lot and if you inspire and motivate them to be leaders now, then a lot of it is going to be embedded in them for later on."

Even when he isn’t teaching or preparing the fourth and fifth grade chorus for the school's winter concert, Slattery spends most of his time in the classroom. He is in the middle of his last year of earning a master’s degree in leadership in teaching.

A resident of Pennsylvania, Slattery commutes 60 miles one way to work, but he hopes to move to Harford County so all three of his children can attend Hall’s Cross Roads Elementary.

Slattery said that he keeps in touch with some of his former students, some of whom are now entering college.

“He was one of my favorite teachers. I had him for chorus and music, and it was one of the best experiences ever,” said Rebecca Baldwin, a freshman at and part-time cashier at McDonald’s. “He deserves this. He’s done a lot for that school.”

Slattery received the Milken Educator Award in 2008, the nation's preeminent teacher recognition program. He is praised for his creative lesson plans, whether it is teaching students how to rap, making them play homemade instruments like empty paint buckets as a set of drums or playing other music-themed games.

“Mr. Slattery is a terrific, awesome and tenacious teacher,” said Shanda White, the family liaison for Hall’s Cross Roads Elementary. “If we ever lose him, I don’t know what we’ll do as a school without him.”