Opstad’s Sharon Piper is elementary educator of the year
March 23, 2011
By Sebastian Moraga
B Sharon Piper, Opstad Elementary School third-grade teacher, was chosen as Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation Elementary Educator of the Year. y Sebastian Moraga
Let it be said that Sharon Piper, elementary educator of the year for the Snoqualmie Valley School District, breaks her promises.
Every year, she promises herself she will go home shortly after her students have, and not stay in the classroom correcting, grading, preparing, researching.
Every year, and every day, she proves herself wrong. There’s always something to do.
But what else can be expected from a teaching lifer who decided she wanted to be a teacher in the eighth grade, and who did the proverbial 180 on her first job, teaching third grade in the same school where she was in third grade.
“In the same classroom,” she said. “It was weird.”
What else can be expected of someone so passionate about children that her eyes tear up when talking about what it’s like to partake in the lives of 28 children.
Piper, a Lewis-Clark State College grad, said the award, the first in her career, belongs to the entire corps of third-grade teachers at Opstad Elementary School.
“It’s really nice, but the gal across the hall, Maryann Bradburn, we pretty much team-teach everything together,” she said. “I feel like the whole third-grade team should get the award.”
John Jester, principal at Opstad, wrote in the school’s e-newsletter that Piper “exemplifies commitment to excellence in education and dedication to her students and her community.”
As a third-grade teacher, Piper introduces concepts such as multiplication, but also life lessons, like not judging others by who they are on the outside. It’s what’s inside that counts.
“Children are better learners when they feel safe, when they feel they are not being judged,” she said.
A mother of three, she said being a mom has made her a better teacher, helping her understand children better.
“The very first year I taught, I had my parents’ meeting and I said, “Have a nice spot for the kids to do their homework in,’ and I would get papers back with spaghetti on it, wrinkled up or coffee stains,” she said. “That was before I had kids.”
Once the children came, she realized homework time happens wherever it can happen, from the kitchen table to a passenger seat.
The mother of two righties and a lefty has learned that some southpaws have a tougher time with cursive, as their hand wrapped around the pencil blocks what they write.
At the same time, as the school year enters its last trimester, she’s less of a “Mommy-teacher” than she was in September.
“Now, you’re responsible for getting your homework in and getting your work done in class,” she said. “I’m not going to coddle you.”
College students wanting to be third-grade teachers must know going in how hard it is, she said.
“You have 25 to 30 kids sometimes, and you see kids come in and they haven’t eaten breakfast, their parents have gotten in a fight,” she said. “It’s not just teaching the stuff.”
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