Linda Boveda, a fifth grade teacher at Lydiksen Elementary School was one of 4,000 teachers nationwide to be named a Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year. Along with the honor, she received a $1,000 grant for the school, a $100 gift card for classroom supplies, a Teacher of the Year polo shirt and a personalized certificate.
She was nominated in February and then selected by a committee of store associates. When it came time to receive the award, Boveda was completely surprised. Each Friday morning the school shows a video they put together, and she thought she was going to be a part of the video. Then quickly the room filled with people, including representatives from Wal-Mart. The school was also given five boxes of school supplies from Wal-Mart.
“It’s a great honor,” she said. “It’s really easy to be a good teacher when you’re at a great school with amazing kids, staff, parents and support staff.”
This is Boveda’s ninth year in the district and 10th year of teaching. Previously she worked in retail merchandising for 15 years.
“I love my job and I love the kids,” she said. “It’s so much fun, it’s the best job in the world. The surprises, the laughter, seeing the kids everyday–every day is different.”
Fifth grade is a special time, Boveda said. While starting to study big ideas like matter, algebra and U.S. history, they still have the spirit of young children.
“They’re still innocent,” she said. “They still like to take chances and have fun, so it’s a great year. Next year they’ll be in sixth grade and they’re going to be more aware of what other people think of them.”
She asked them what teaching a fifth grader these days is like, her students helped her by saying they make the job easy because they are all so good at technology. Since technology is a big part of learning, Boveda said the school hopes the grant would go towards a Lumens camera and LCD projector, which projects textbooks to an overhead. The cost is about $2,000, so she said the school would have to raise some more money before the items could be purchased.
Boveda may also apply for the state honors to have a chance at winning a $10,000 grant for the school. From there, state winners are automatically nominated for the national competition, with one teacher receiving an additional $25,000 education grant for the school. In its 12th year with the Teacher of the Year program, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has given $18.5 million to schools, with more than $4 million given just this year.
“We’re very grateful to Wal-Mart,” she said, adding that she’d like to use the gift card towards drama and art in her classroom.
