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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 2003

Speech

Remarks by Betsy Rogers,
National Teacher of the Year
to the NEA Representative Assembly

News Orleans, Louisiana

Thank you so much, Reg.  I had the opportunity to meet him several times this year, for the first time, and enjoyed him each time I met him. Certainly an enthusiastic person and so wonderful for education. And I thank you for being here today, and I'm so happy to be here for my Alabama group that's here with President Kathy McVeigh from Alabama. I'm so proud to be here with you today, sharing this meeting with you. And we also have Chauncey Veatch from California who was last year's National Teacher of the Year, and what a marvelous example he was for all of the teachers in our nation. And with me today, I have someone from the Council of Chief State School Officers, who sponsor the Teacher of the Year program, John Quam.

You know, as an elementary teacher, I used to worry about getting my children to lunch on time. Now I have someone who does all my scheduling. So this is quite a different world for me to live in. But it's been a wonderful experience for me. And I have had many experiences since starting this year as the National Teacher of the Year, and I'm so proud to have the opportunities to do things that I never really dreamed I would have the chance to do.
 
This is my first trip to New Orleans. I have never been down here. Even though I'm a Southern girl, I have never been to New Orleans. Earlier this summer, I went on my first trip to New York. And I have to say I learned a little lesson about New York. I learned a little lesson about when I go somewhere for the first time. Because I have lived sort of a sheltered environment. I have lived in Leeds, Alabama, up until about the last five years. I lived there for about 20 years. The first thing that happened to me when I got to New York was that I saw, right on Times Square, I saw "the naked cowboy." Now, I'm not sure if any of you are familiar with the naked cowboy. I wasn't. Now New York is. But, anyhow, this guy actually has a permit to stand on the street and sing with his guitar, in his underwear, and you can have your picture made with him, and he sings, you drop money in his boots. Well, my eyes were like this when I saw this naked cowboy. And I was going to have my picture made with him, but the closer I got, I thought, "This is too sleazy, I can't do this." Because I wanted to show it to my teachers at school, but I didn't go that far. But I had to make a presentation that week to Scholastic, who also sponsored a Teacher of the Year program. And in my presentation, I mentioned this. And I said, You know, I would never see this in Leeds, Alabama. Well, when I got back home to Leeds, Alabama, I was telling my friends about this, and she said, Betsy, you don't remember?  He came to Leeds.  He was the fund-raiser for opening day of Little League softball and baseball.
 
And so, well, my children were in college at the time. So I wasn't involved in Little League.  And it caused quite a stir. There were many letters of outrage written, sermons preached the next day in church. And so I had to write Scholastic, and apologize to them for being so positive in my attitude because here this man had already been to Leeds, Alabama.  So anything I see this week in New Orleans, I'm not going to say a word about it because I know it's already happened in Leeds, Alabama. So that's a lesson that I have learned, that I think we are so different, but we are really not. We are all so much alike wherever we are. I am so proud to represent my state. I'm the first National Teacher of the Year from the state of Alabama, and very proud of that. And this was the first year that my school ever participated in the Teacher of the Year program. So for me to be here today before you is quite a miraculous journey that I have been on.
 
You know, Alabama has not always been in the top ten for many things in education.  But we're in the top ten for National Board teachers, which I'm very proud to say.  And that's much due to the work of AEA in Alabama for their promoting this program. And when I made that statement to some of the other state teachers, one of them said, Yeah, it's so great, and Miss America. And I said, Well, yeah, it is.  It's actually been in the top ten Miss America 33 times. So we have that Miss America, and this really came home to me when I was speaking at a university, Jackson State University, and I was on my way there, and they had given me all these back roads to take because I was going from one meeting to the other. So they gave me the back roads, and I sort of get lost in back roads. If you have ever been to Alabama, we have beautiful rural landscapes, and I get kind of lost in the whole look of the area. And I was just driving down the road enjoying this scene, and I thought, What if I missed that turn?  Because I have been on this road a long, long time. And Jackson is not too far from the Georgia line. I sure hope I haven't missed it and I'm still in Alabama. And I came to this house that had a huge sign that said, Crowns, Scepters and Tiaras sold here. So I knew I was still in Alabama. I was okay.
 
But we do love our beauty pageants. We do love our football. And recently someone wrote an editorial in the Birmingham News that said that they had done their own poll to see who knew my name. Actually, no one they asked knew my name, but they all knew the name of the Alabama coach. But I felt a little redeemed when one of my friends called me and said that my shirt was hanging up by Ruben's shirt at the mall, the American Idol. So we have been very excited about Alabama having an American Idol winner. So this has been a great year for Alabama, and I am so proud to represent my state and the teachers in the state.

The first week of summer vacation, I spent a day with some teachers in south Alabama who came on their first day of summer vacation to a workshop. And some of them had gotten up at 2:30 in the morning to attend that workshop. So that's the dedication that I know you see in your state, and I see in mine, and how proud I am to represent that. You know, that's one of the great things about when you recognize the work of the teacher. It does involve so many others, and it brings so much good attention, not just to your state, your community, your school, and to your students. And as Reg mentioned, I taught first and second grade at Leeds Elementary for the last 18 years. I had a looping class where I had the students for two years. This past year would have been my second year with my class. And for my colleague who flip-flops with me every year and we go to different grades, she kept my class together since I was not in the classroom this year, and she kept my students so I could go there and see them often. On April 30th, when I was named Teacher of the Year in the White House ceremony, a local bank organized for a large screen TV to be brought in where all the children do this and get to be a part of the ceremony. And they were so excited. And on that day they wrote me some letters. And I just want to share a few of these letters with you that my second graders wrote to me in honor of this occasion.
 
The first one said:  Dear Dr. Rogers: I'm glad you made National Teacher of the Year. You're doing good so far. 
 
This says:  Dear Mrs. Rogers:  We were jumping up and down when we heard you won.  We had prayed and prayed that you would win, and God took care of that.
 
This says:  Dear Dr. Rogers:  I knew you would win. We are going to have this much money, $21 billion and 48 cents.  Well, maybe.
 
This says:  Dear Mrs. Rogers, I'm glad you won. I can't wait for you to come back.  All those people, did you send them? I'm talking about the news people. And they did get interviewed often!
 And I was just amazed when I would go in there, they would step up to the microphone and be interviewed. They have become so media savvy. The last day of school I went in with some videographer from Washington, and this little girl came up to me and said, Ms. Rogers, I am tired of being the star now.  You have got to take over.
 
And then this last one says: Dear Mrs. Rogers, I'm so glad that you got Teacher of the Year. Today is the best day of my life. This is the most exciting day. I am so proud you won. You are a National Teacher of the Year, and I'm proud to be your student.
 
And just a couple more:
 
Dear Dr. Rogers:  Congratulations.  I can't wait to see your prize.  I'm sort of waiting, too.  
 
However, this last letter is my prize. It says:  Dear Dr. Rogers.  I'm so glad that you made Teacher of the Year. You made me and everyone else feel so special.

And that was what was so special about winning this for my school, my students, the teachers I represent across America, and my state. So it's been quite an experience for me, and a very happy one. I just want to share a little bit about my journey and what's happened to me during the last five years and how it changed me as a teacher, which has been very important to me, and perhaps some of you can relate to this. One of my favorite Alabama heroes is Helen Keller. And if you have seen the new Alabama quarter, it has her picture on it, and it's the first coin to ever have Braille on it. And one of her quotes, it's been very meaningful to me in my life. "When one door of happiness closes, another opens." Often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
 
Five years ago, I thought my life was over. I lost my husband at the age of 46 years old to a massive heart attack, and I really thought my life was a closed door. I had just at that time gone back to graduate school. And like Reg said, 24 years I waited to go back to graduate school. And I'm not proud of that, but I want to let you know it's never too late.  But I had always had this desire to be that example of what I wanted my children to be, a life-long learner. I wanted to be that type of professional. So I had just started back in graduate school, a couple days before spring semester started when I lost my husband. I called my school and said, I just can't do it, can't come back anymore. And about two weeks later I thought, yes, I have got to do this. I am going to do this. This is what I need to do. So I went back and I finished my masters that summer. Then I went on and started the EDS program, which is Educational Specialist. I finished that. And then in 2002 I completed my doctorate. And this was something I had longed to do.  This was very important to me; that I could be this type of professional educator. And I will never forget the first time I stood up in front of the parents with my children and talked to them about looping, because I did my masters research on looping, I did my dissertation on looping. I was hoping to say to the parents of my children, this is what research says, because I had actually done the research and read everything I could. And these are the pros and cons about this. And these are the choices you have to make for your children. And that was a proud moment for me as a professional educator to realize I knew exactly what I was talking about. I can reference this.

And this has changed me as a teacher.
 
I understood that there was more to my job. Although I have always been involved in professional development, going back and owning these degrees made a difference.  It made a difference in the teacher I was. I became very data driven. By data driven, I mean I didn't -this is the thing sometimes I say data driven. This drove my structure for my students, as I planned individually for my students, for their needs. It did not drive the curriculum. Because sometimes I feel like in some low-performing schools that we concentrate so much on taking the test, and that becomes the curriculum. But for me, being data-driven in my classroom, meant that I knew exactly where the children were, and I was constantly assessing and using this assessment to guide my individual instruction for my students. But I always maintained, tried to, a very rich curriculum for my students. So that was a difference for me to become that type of teacher for accountability. And that is what going back to the university really exposed me to. And I was just beginning to see what the possibilities could be as a teacher leader.
 
And some people understand this, as I went over my degrees, someone once said to me, you know, You're too qualified to teach second grade. And my thought was, how can you ever be too qualified to teach children to read?  I never feel like that.
 
And then someone else made the comment, What are you going to do when you grow up?  And I said, "Teach." I'm a teacher.  And that's what I am. But I wanted to be that level of a teacher for my children so that I could be the best.  And that's not the end-all of professional development. It's always ongoing. But going back to the university, after all these years, it was not always easy, but it was something I'll always treasure, and it changed me as a teacher. And during this time I also went through the National Board process. And I know we have many National Board teachers here today. And many congratulations to you. As you are waiting to find out if you are going to be certified this year, I know that wait.  I have been through that wait. And I will just tell you, these two things together, going back to school, understanding that I could do research-based teaching, but then, looking at National Boards and understanding, I had a "practice." You know, for so long I thought only lawyers and doctors had a "practice." But I had a practice as a teacher. And I was so excited when I kept reading the National Board, reflect on your practice.  I just love that.  I had a practice.
 
And you know we don't always understand that and look at ourselves in that way. And I know one of my colleagues did a lot of proofreading for my National Board. He would always say, scratch that out. I thought, you know what? He doesn't understand we have a practice. We all have a practice. We are all trying to improve our practice. And going through those two things made me reevaluate not the work of my children, but my work, and what I was asking children to do every day. Was it valuable? And, you know, if you are an early childhood educator, we love cute. We love cute. So I had to make sure, as my colleagues said, that the cute had to count, and I had to make sure that each part of the day was valuable. And that was a real turning point for me. And I didn't teach the same anymore. I was different.  I was better for my children.  And I still strive to do better.
 
And then three years ago, this is another area I realized I was very weak in as a teacher. I went with my son and his church on a mission trip to rural Alabama. And although I had always taught in the Title I school, and I thought I had seen poverty, I really realized the poverty in our rural schools in many areas. And I saw this firsthand.  And, you know, once you have information, you have it. I couldn't ignore it anymore. I had this information. And I thought about, well, you know, I have been so responsible as the teacher for the children in my classroom. That's my accountability. But then I realized I had to be a voice. I had to be an advocate for other children. But now I had information that I knew about things, the needs of children. And then as a teacher, it was my responsibility to be a voice. And that meant that I needed to take time to speak to students, to speak to parents, to talk to the teachers, to talk to church groups and civic groups, about our needs in education. And this was something I had not done.
 
So these were the three things that really turned me around as a teacher the last five years. And I'm finally getting the sense that maybe I'm going to be the teacher I want to be some day. But as we all know, it never stops. We never stop trying to improve our skills as teachers and trying to do the very best to reach every child.
 
And one issue that has really been a great concern to me, after this experience, was equity in education, and the fact that all children don't have the same type of skills. And this was brought home to me so vividly one day this past fall. I had spent the year trying to stay, but also I had worked for my school system in federal programs, so I got to visit every Title I school in my school system, which I loved, and I spent almost one day every week in our most needy school. And I had been in the kindergarten class in that school that morning and just loved going in there and being with those students. That afternoon I went to visit one of my long-time friends. She taught probably one of the most affluent schools in the state of Alabama. And I was walking back to my car and I realized, you know, this was just so vivid, exactly what you read about when we talk about closing the achievement gap, that the students didn't have the same thing. 
 
The high poverty school had a first-year principal, first-year teacher, very few resources. The affluent school had a veteran principal, veteran teacher, and resources that were unimaginable. But the one thing I thought about when I walked to the car that day, and if you have ever taught five-year-olds you will know what I am talking about, was the look in the eyes of those children, that look of hope that they look to us for, that they know that we are going to teach them. We are going to help them to achieve in this world.
 
And I thought about those two groups of children, that one day they would have to compete to go to the same colleges. They would have to compete for the same jobs. They would have to compete for the same success in life. And I knew then that we needed to do something to close this gap. One of the things I think would be so wonderful, if we could change the mind-set that maybe for teachers, the reward to teach in high poverty and needy schools would be such a rewarding opportunity for teachers. You know, sometimes there is more money in other school systems.
 
But if you have a heart for children that you want to make a difference, the challenges are great. But the rewards are so great. I wish we could change that mind-set, especially as we try to recruit the brightest and the best into our field, that this is a need. And I think that teachers can make the difference. And I shared this story with a reporter. And he asked me, said, when I finished, Yeah, but do you really think one teacher can make a difference? And I thought about that. And I thought about Helen Keller. Because, you know, her story is really the story of a teacher. Annie Sullivan left Boston to come to Alabama, to teach a child that many considered hopeless. Now, Annie Sullivan was described as being highly trained, very educated, innovative in her method, and very dedicated to her student. I personally think she was probably highly qualified. 
 
Anyhow, she came to Alabama to teach Helen Keller. And look at the impact her teaching Helen Keller had, because Helen Keller was the first deaf-blind person to ever graduate from college. And she graduated with honors from Radcliffe. She went on to not only change legislation for the handicapped, and laws, but for attitudes for the handicapped. And she helped establish one of the oldest non-profit organizations that still exists today, serving 80 countries to aid and assist the blind. Helen Keller, in her autobiography, wrote that the wordless cry of her soul was light. Send me light. She said that light came to her the day her teacher arrived in Alabama. And every March, in honor of her teacher's arrival, Helen Keller celebrated her birthday. You know, I may not ever teach a Helen Keller or Rosa Parks or George Washington Carver, or change the history in my state or in my nation, but you never know. 
 
And do not all of our children deserve the very best we can provide?
They have to have - our children need the light education can bring them. Our children are our hope. They are a promise for a better day and I want to live in a country where our children are so valued that there would never be any need for legislation concerning no child left behind, or there would never be an issue of equity in education.
 
I want to live in a country where the citizens will be outraged if any child did not have a highly qualified teacher or did not go to a school that had the very necessities to perform. I want to live in a country where our citizens take such pride in educating all of our children that they would see that every child had the resources they needed, unlike some teachers in my state who actually went into a dumpster to get books from another school system when their own school system could not afford new books.
 
I want to live in a country where our legacy to the world is how we have taken care of our children.

One of my favorite poems is Lord Alfred Tennyson's Ulysses.  And in the last line of that poem, he writes: To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. That's what we have done as educators. And that's what we must continue to do. We live in times that are tough. We live in times that are hard for all of us. And we live in times that are hard for children. But we must never forget to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Thank you.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.6 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.