Md. educator named National Teacher of the Year

A chemistry teacher from Frederick County, Maryland, on Sunday was named the 2011 National Teacher of the Year.

The teacher, Michelle Shearer, has been an educator for 14 years, including the past nine at Urbana High School. The award is given each year by the Washington-based Council of Chief State School Officers.

Mrs. Shearer, who in October was named Maryland Teacher of the Year, will receive the award Tuesday at the White House from President Obama.

She teaches advanced placement chemistry in the Frederick County public schools and previously taught high school chemistry and mathematics at the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick.

Mrs. Shearer earned an undergraduate chemistry degree from Princeton University and a graduate degree in deaf education from Gallaudet University in Washington.

The council said Mrs. Shearer embraces technological innovation in the classroom while still emphasizing the importance of teacher-student interaction.

Said Mrs. Shearer: “Technology and teaching strategies certainly enhance my efforts, but my recognition of the power of human connection seems to have the most profound effect on my students’ achievement. … This is a tremendous honor.”

In naming Mrs. Shearer the 61st National Teacher of the Year, the council also pointed out she is an advocate for science, technology, engineering and mathematics for all K-12 students. The council also said Mrs. Shearer “successfully reaches those who have been traditionally underrepresented in scientific fields, including students with special needs and those from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat who in his 2010 re-election campaign touted Maryland’s high-ranking public education system, was among the first to congratulate Mrs. Shearer. “We are so proud that one of Maryland’s own has been named National Teacher of the Year,” he said. “Maryland has become a national model for quality public education.”

Mrs. Shearer said the two biggest influences toward becoming a teacher were her parents, who were teachers, and the students at the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf in Trenton, N.J., where she was a classroom volunteer as an undergraduate.

“Education was so central to my life that I knew from a young age that I wanted to become a teacher,” she said. “Nevertheless, when I entered Princeton University as a freshman, I felt the pressure to become ’something more.’ I embarked on a pre-medical course of study and spent virtually every waking hour on academic endeavors. On the verge of burnout, I attended an open house at Princeton’s Student Volunteer Council in an attempt to re-establish a sense of balance in my life. … I began volunteering every Tuesday at MKSD. … Then one day in my junior year, after working on a thermodynamics problem set, I got up from my desk and walked to the Teacher Preparation Program office to discuss certification. Whatever was required, I knew I simply had to teach.”