Teacher of the Year announced

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

— She didn’t cry, but Avondale Elementary School kindergarten teacher Alexia Weimer was speechless when told Monday that she was the Arkansas Teacher of the Year.

“For the first time in my life, I don’t know what to say,” said Weimer, who received the award during an assembly that she thought was held to honor the Marion School District’s pre-kindergarten through first grade school. The elementary school on the northwestern edge of West Memphis sits inside a sliver of the Marion School District.

It is the first time ateacher from the district has won the award.

“I definitely don’t deserve it any more than anyone else here,” Weimer said. “I was just doing my job.”

As the recipient of the 2013 award, Weimer will take a year of paid administrative leave to serve in an advisory position with the Arkansas Board of Education and for professional development opportunities.

She will also receive $15,000 from the Walton Family Foundation, a Bentonville philanthropic organization founded by retail businessmen Sam and Helen Walton that funds educational efforts.

Weimer, 30, has taught at Avondale Elementary School for six years. She earned both her bachelor of science degree in early childhood education and her master of science degree in educational leadership from Arkansas State University.

“We hired her fresh out of college,” said Avondale Elementary School Principal Glenda Bryan. “I could see the fire in her eyes then. She had passion for this job spilling out.

“I knew I wanted her on my staff,” Bryan said. “She isthe teacher I’d want for my child.”

Weimer said Monday that she had no idea she would be named the Teacher of the Year. In fact, she said, she thought the award would be given Wednesday.

On Monday, the 750 children at Avondale Elementary School filed into the cafeteria under the guise of an assembly to honor the school district as a leader in technology. Weimer and other teachers herded the children into lines and coached them to sit quietly on the floor to wait forthe event to begin.

When the children sang songs about their school - including one where children chanted the school’s initials “AES” to The Jackson Five’s tune “ABC” - Weimer joined in, clapping her hands and urging the students to join her.

“She loves her children,” Bryan said.

Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell carried the ruse further by telling children they were “learning 21st century skills that will carry you all the way to highschool.”

Then, he announced Weimer was the winner of the Teacher of the Year award.

“I care about them,” Weimer said of her students when called to the front of the assembly to receive her award. “First and foremost, I love them all.”

Weimer’s husband, Stefano Weimer, attended the assembly, telling his wife he’d be there as part of the school’s Watchdog Dads program in which men help with functions.

“I’m so excited for her,” he said of his wife. “This is something she worked hours for. There were a lot of late nights in the classroom.”

As the children returned to their classrooms and Weimer prepared to go to a reception, she reflected on her teaching career.

Several letters of recommendation sent to the state Department of Education touting Weimer’s work noted her ability to engage young children and to include technology in their learning without boring them.

“I knew I was born to be a teacher,” she said. “I was called to it.

“Every day I wake up loving it,” she said. “I love it when they are working so hard on something and then they finally get it. It’s all worth it.”

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 11/27/2012