Teachers from varied backgrounds across the state of Ohio are recognized for their passionate teaching.
Sixteen teachers from around Ohio wanted to show the public why they were honored to be public educators.
The Patton College of Education presented this opportunity in an unconventional way — through YouTube videos.
The YouTube videos that were sent to the college were one component of the Second Annual Public Education Recognition Day and YouTube Contest in Baker Theatre Wednesday.
Public Education Recognition Day honors present and future public school educators in Ohio.
The event consists of a meet-and-greet reception with food and drinks, followed by a speech from Renee A. Middleton, the dean of the Patton College.
Only four of the 16 video entries will be recognized to conclude the event. The contestants consisted of public school teachers throughout Ohio and the theme for this year’s video was “Why I Teach!”
Middleton said her motivation to create this program reached deeper than honoring the four public school teachers in Ohio who won the YouTube contest. She wanted to recognize the dedication that goes into being a public school teacher.
"The video contest, developed last year, is a way for the Patton College and Ohio University to celebrate public education," Middleton said in an email. “The videos are always inspiring and capture what it means to be passionate about teaching.”
The first place and second place winners were Aaron Davis, a social studies intervention specialist at Indian Valley Local Schools in Gnadenhutten, and Holly Pettet, a teacher at Wellston High School in Wellston. Jeri Herron and Tina Hall came in third and fourth place.
Pettet and Hall, alumnae of the Patton College, were named alumni of the month for March.
Kimberly Barlag, spokeswoman for the Patton College, said the contestants had interesting routes in showing their teaching backgrounds.
“Our fourth place winner has 30 years as a teacher and seeing her continued passion is remarkable,” Barlag said. “The third place winner performed a song for her students and our first place winner talks about his dad becoming a teacher after getting laid off from another job.”
Davis’s road to becoming a teacher stemmed from a childhood of poverty and parents who lacked education. He said he wants to give the same inspiration his parents gave him to use education overcome obstacles outside the classroom.
“For the most part, students face more external challenges today than at any point in our history,” he said in an email. “A quality education opens doors for you, but you still have to take the initiative to walk through the obstacles you face.”
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Davis said digital media has an original way of triggering responses in an audience.
“We should be using all means possible to let teachers know that they are not only welcome in our profession, but they are desperately needed,” he said in an email. “Digital media is a great way for us to get the message out.”
Davis was thankful that Public Education Recognition Day and the “Why I Teach!” contest were willing to share the diverse stories of teachers.
“There are so many wonderful educators in our profession with amazing stories and I'm honored to count myself among them,” he said.
@jcooke1996
