BENTONVILLE -- Jayna Moffit, one of this year's finalists for Arkansas Teacher of the Year, once seemed headed toward a career in engineering. An experience in education led her down a different path.
During her senior year of college, Moffit signed up with Teach for America, an organization that recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in low-income communities.
Profile
Jayna Moffit
Jayna Moffit is an Iowa native. She graduated from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, in 2001 with majors in math and physics. She became a National Board certified teacher in 2007 and earned her master’s degree in teaching and learning from Harding University in 2009. She and her husband, Kris Moffit, live in Bella Vista with their three children.
Source: Staff Report
Moffit was sent to Marvell, a small town in east Arkansas. She originally was chosen to teach fourth-grade math, but officials there decided they had a greater need for her at the high school.
It was a tough assignment. She encountered many students whose teachers had quit on them, she said.
"I really fell in love with helping those kids," Moffit said. "I realized the inequities we have in our educational system. It was very eye-opening."
When her stint with Teach for America ended, Moffit joined the Bentonville School District as a math teacher at Lincoln Junior High School. She's in her 12th year there.
Bentonville named Moffit its teacher of the year last spring. In September, she was named one of four finalists for the 2015 Arkansas Teacher of the Year award.
The state Department of Education announced on Nov. 21 it had chosen Ouida Newton, a high school math teacher in Poyen, for the honor. Newton received $15,000 from the Walton Family Foundation; she also is allowed a year of paid administrative leave for professional development purposes and to serve in an advisory position as a nonvoting member of the Arkansas State Board of Education.
No teacher from the Bentonville School District has ever won the award that has been given annually since 1962. Tracy Kincy, who also taught at Lincoln Junior High at the time, was a finalist for the award in 2005.
Only one Benton County teacher has ever received the award. That was Muriel Chism, a Rogers elementary teacher, in 1987.
Once she'd been chosen as a finalist, Moffit went through a rigorous selection process that included an extensive written application and a two-hour interview with a team of five people from the state. She also had to make a speech in front of legislators and others about what issues she would highlight if granted Teacher of the Year status.
Moffit admitted feeling disappointment upon hearing the award had gone to someone else.
"It was tough. I'd put a lot of hard work into it," Moffit said. "There were so many people who had given me support that I felt like I'd let them down."
But she felt honored to be nominated for the honor, starting at the school level last spring.
"There are some phenomenal teachers in this area, this region and this state. I know people don't get this kind of recognition without support from others. So it's more of a school and school district award than an individual award," she said.
Colleagues who know Moffit best give her high praise.
"Jayna is a bundle of energy. I don't know how she accomplishes everything she does," said Jonathon Guthrie, principal of Lincoln Junior High School.
Moffit is the eighth-grade math team leader. This year, she approached Guthrie about starting a math lab course to help students who struggle with the subject.
One of the class projects involves building dog houses and "reading houses." The reading houses are small structures where kids can curl up with a book; they will be donated to local libraries and the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter. The dog houses will be donated to local animal shelters.
"My hope with that is these kids will see math as fun," she said. "Math lab is really another way to give them more time to practice and understand math."
Alana Gilliam, a seventh- and eighth-grade math teacher at Lincoln Junior High, was one of the people who nominated Moffit for teacher of the year. Moffit has been like a mentor for her, Gilliam said.
"She's really pushed our team to challenge kids and start seeing algebra concepts," Gilliam said. "She really cares about the students. When you see her with them, you see they all have a genuine relationship with her. They all respect her."
Moffit's work ethic also has impressed Gilliam.
"I'll get emails from her at 1 in the morning," Gilliam said.
One of Moffit's main goals is to see the perception of teachers and the teaching profession changed for the better.
"It's important to me the public sees teaching as an honored profession, that teachers see themselves that way," Moffit said. "If we all don't agree teachers are vital and necessary, then we're heading down the wrong road."
The current training and recruitment model for teachers needs reform, she said. Only the best students should be chosen for training to be teachers; once they start their jobs, there should be a support system in place for them, she said.
"For example, teachers in their first year should co-teach with a highly qualified teacher, rather than be left to weather a frazzling first year many veterans claim as a rite of passage," Moffit said.
Her ability to campaign for such reform would have been enhanced had she been granted the Teacher of the Year award, but Moffit said she is motivated to press for it anyway.
"I'm just going to have to do it through a different avenue," she said.
Michael Poore, district superintendent, said he appreciates the extra work Moffit put in while pursuing the award.
"I'm really proud we had a final four candidate," Poore said. "She's a great model of what our teachers represent. She cares about the kids. She understands success is built on the team."
NW News on 11/28/2014