Congratulations to McLane Elementary third grade teacher Emily Hamilton, who learned this week during an impromptu online staff meeting that she has been selected as this year's Olympia School District Teacher of the Year.
Hamilton will be honored at the May 13, 2021 Olympia School Board meeting. The meeting will be held in person and on Zoom starting at 6:30 p.m. The in-person meeting is held at the Knox 111 Administrative Center, 111 Bethel St. in Olympia.
In a letter nominating Hamilton as Teacher of the Year, McLane Elementary Principal Anthony Brock praised her for her work leading staff professional development on racial equity. “Every single day, she is leading by example displaying the skills, knowledge, and courage to identify and confront personal, systemic, and societal bias,” he wrote.
Brock also commended Hamilton for her “leadership and innovation” with a Community Connections -- a new initiative this year at McLane. “In our School Improvement Plan, we spoke specifically about creating Community Connections and engaging students in their curiosity, their passions, and their love of learning,” he wrote. “This was led once again by Emily Hamilton.” Learn more about Community Connections in a separate article featured in the March issue of
Spotlight on Success.
He continued, “Mrs. Hamilton’s drive is uncommon; it is the drive of an individual who doesn’t take anything for granted, a drive of an individual who is an instructional gamechanger who maximizes the learning of every student, every moment of every day.”
Hamilton, who is a National Board Certified Teacher, has participated in district and statewide efforts in distance learning and helps educators across Washington as a teacher technician for the Washington State Schoology Help Desk. She has been teaching the past five years at McLane Elementary.