Jennifer Parker, a teacher at Garlough Environmental Magnet School in School District 197, has been selected as a recipient of the 2014 WEM Outstanding Educator Award for Ethics in Education and will receive $15,000 as part of the award.
The Outstanding Educator Awards are presented by the WEM Foundation and the Synergy & Leadership Exchange nonprofit and honor six educators with various awards from Minnesota each year. Parker is one of two teachers In Minnesota receiving the Ethics in Education award, which recognizes educators who embody ethical behavior and promote ethical development for students through classroom or school activities, policies or curriculum.
"I am incredibly humbled to receive the WEM Award for Ethics in Education," Parker said after being surprised with the award at a school assembly. "To be honored in this way really speaks to the hopes that every single new teacher aspires to when choosing our profession: to positively impact children and inspire them to be their best in every way. We want students to excel academically, but our great wish is that our children develop as happy, confident, kind and responsible global citizens."
Educators are nominated for the WEM Outstanding Educator Awards Program by students, parents, colleagues or community members. Those who accept the nomination provide additional information for review and consideration by Synergy & Leadership Exchange and a blue ribbon selection panel, which reviews and ranks the nominees. (Parker was previously a regional honoree for WEM's Teacher Achievement Award.)
Parker has been teaching for 15 years, and has been with District 197 since 1998. At Garlough, she works with students in Kindergarten through Grade 4 as the school's Magnet Facilitator, Gifted and Talented teacher, and iNature teacher. Outside the classroom, Parker is a member of the school's leadership team and became a facilitator of Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity (SEED) program after participating in the classes. In 2013 Parker participated in a summer Japan-U.S. teacher exchange program for Education for Sustainability Development with Fulbirght Japan.
To promote ethical conduct within her classroom, Parker creates anchor charts to remind her students how to learn together from their successes and failures. Students come to understand that while they are at school, there are clear expectations that students show respect for themselves and each other.
Garlough principal Sue Powell wrote a letter recommending that Parker receive the award.
"Jennifer's class learns to work together with students from different backgrounds and abilities," Powell wrote, "and they practice how to solve problems using non-violent methods."
Parker plans to use the award money to expand natural learning habitats at Garlough and pursue professional development opportunities.
Parker joins others in School District 197 who have been recognized by the WEM Foundation and the Synergy & Leadership Exchange:
2013 - Deborah Krohn of Garlough Environmental Magnet School received the Ethics in Education Award
2012 - Dr. Charles Skemp of Henry Sibley High School received the Teacher Achievement Award
2011 - Ikhlas Abdelkhalig of Pilot Knob STEM Magnet School received the Teacher Achievement Award
2009 - Jennifer Parker, then of Pilot Knob, was a regional honoree for the Teacher Achievement Award
2003 - Anne Barnes of Friendly Hills Middle School received the Teacher Achievement Award
2001 - Alex Messicci of Somerset Elementary School received the Ethics in Education Award
