- December 20, 2024
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The need to create a positive, loving experience for students is what keeps Wadsworth Elementary School Teacher of the Year Annette Clemons coming back year after year, she wrote in her application for the Teacher of the Year award.
"I want my students to know what inclusivity feels and looks like," she wrote. "I love seeing them change their fixed mindset to a growth mindset as they begin to understand inclusivity. Knowing that I can have that type of impact, which in turn creates the type of environment that fosters learning? That is what truly inspires me the most."
Clemons began working for Flagler Schools in 2018 as a VPK facilitator before becoming a paraprofessional the next year and an educator in 2020.
Her instruction is always explicit and systematic and you can watch all of her scholars be engaged in the learning process."
— ANY NEUENFELDT, Wadsworth Elementary principal
"As I have walked through her classroom many times this year, I always see her engaged in instruction from whole group to small group to working with an individual scholar," Wadsworth Principal Amy Neuenfeldt wrote in a letter of recommendation for Clemons. "Her instruction is always explicit and systematic and you can watch all of her scholars be engaged in the learning process."
Neuenfeldt wrote that Clemons' former students often stop by Clemons' classroom to say hello.
"When you see her teach, you see a model classroom of excellence," Neuenfeldt wrote. "She mixes the art of teacher with the science of teaching that helps each and every scholar grow. Her data and the growth of the learning that takes place with her scholars speaks volumes of the amazing educator she is."
Clemons also started the drama club at Wadsworth.
"Since COVID, we didn’t really have many clubs at the school for our students. They were so excited to be able to do something after school again," she wrote.
I love seeing them change their fixed mindset to a growth mindset as they begin to understand inclusivity."
— ANNETTE CLEMONS, Wadsworth Elementary School Teacher of the Year
This year, 42 students have enrolled in the program, and all but three previous students returned (with the exception of those who graduated from elementary school to middle school), she wrote.
"There are no language barriers here, stutters magically disappear, voices are finally heard and souls are clearly seen," Clemons wrote.
"She ... has designed it [the drama club] in a way that allows for as many students as possible to be able to participate," 2nd Grade ESE Support Facilitator Christina Sica wrote in a letter of recommendation for Clemons' Teacher of the Year application. "She enjoys helping students find their artistic passions and accommodates where necessary to ensure their success."
Clemons' ESE background lets her assist each student, 2nd Grade ESE Support Facilitator Christina Sica wrote.
"She does not shy away from welcoming students who have significant needs into her classroom," Sica wrote. "She often seeks out these students because she knows that with loving support and guidance, she can help these students find confidence and achievement that goes beyond the classroom walls."
