For the Reporter
Kent School District leaders made a surprise visit before classes began Tuesday morning at Martin Sortun Elementary School to announce the selection of Stephanie Bolinger as the district’s 2015 Teacher of the Year.
Bolinger was nominated by her peers at Martin Sortun and received a standing ovation for her work at the school for the past 14 years.
As Math Intervention Specialist at Martin Sortun since 2009, Bolinger, he has led in data-driven instruction reforms that resulted in a nearly 40 percent increase in math scores. She also serves as Response to Intervention Coordinator (RTI) among the Martin Sortun instructional staff, coordinating instructional interventions for students who are struggling in reading, writing or math. She does this through facilitating teacher collaboration, supervising paraeducators and is leading the way as a change coach in education reform.
She started her career at Martin Sortun as a third-grade teacher and also taught sixth and fourth grade and English language learners.
“She provides visionary leadership and serves as an inspiration to her colleagues,” principal Gregory Kroll said. “She routinely raises my own expectations and challenges my own thinking to imagine new possibilities.”
The application and nomination process included letters of recommendation from Kroll and a parent and essays from Bolinger on her teaching philosophy.
“Her skills as a math coach launched our early adoption of alternative math strategies and materials to insure our students are thinking critically and learning current content standards,” Kroll said. “She is so firmly rooted in instruction.”
Bolinger’s essays focused on collaboration, classroom management and intentionality. “I am not satisfied to consider just those students in my classroom, I want to impact as many students and support teachers so they can be at their best,” Bolinger wrote.
“She is a lovely mix of hard work and caring spirit…As a parent, I’m thankful for what she contributes to my children and our
community,” said Tracie Leistiko, a parent of students who attended Martin Sortun, in her letter of recommendation.
Bolinger is a 1997 graduate of Kentridge High School and attended Meridian Junior High, now Meridian Middle School, and Soos Creek, Panther Lake and Fairwood elementary schools.
“I was a ‘Kent kid’ and my dream was to give back to KSD,” Bolinger said. “That is exactly what I have the honor of doing.”
The nomination process for Teacher of the Year begins at the building level. Each school elects a teacher, nominated by their peers, and those honorees then apply for the KSD award. Bolinger’s selection as the KSD Teacher of the Year means she is a candidate for regional teacher of the year within the Puget Sound Educational Service District, which serves 35 public school districts. The regional teacher of the year recipients then become candidates for the 2015 Washington State Teacher of the Year, which is announced in the fall.
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