Lorene Dixon Voted Teacher Of The Year
Fear, anxiety and nervousness are just a few of the words that could be used to describe how I felt when I stepped into my first classroom as a beginning teacher nineteen years ago. I just knew that I was going to ruin some poor child for the rest of their life!! But I also knew that being a teacher was an innate and God-given talent that I could not ignore or deny.
Soon, I realized that as the butterflies ceased, my love, concern and commitment to children grew. I knew that I had been charged with providing them with enriched opportunities needed to make them life-long learners. I then went about the business of doing just that. For six years I taught first grade at Benjamin Franklin Elementary, where I was also “Teacher of the Year” in 1989-1990. I was then offered the position as facilitator of the reading program “Success For All”, which lasted for five years. Upon the end of SFA, I became one of three Title I reading resource teachers, providing additional assistance and support to classroom teachers through peer teaching and observations, classroom modeling and small group instruction. While at Benjamin Franklin, I served on and chaired several committees such as School Beautification, Sunshine Club, Black History, Career Day, Title I Oratorical, Literacy and Leadership Teams. I was also selected to participate in various Region III initiatives such as Central Express and SunRays.
After being at Benjamin Franklin for twelve years I felt that I had grown tremendously as a teacher and as an individual and was ready to venture out, learn more and share more of my varied experiences and expertise with my colleagues. I then became a Title I Educational Specialist, providing educational support to teachers in seven elementary schools within Region III. Then as things often do within our school district, change occurred, administratively, and I was fortunate enough to arrive at Martin Luther King Elementary. I have matriculated here as the music teacher and most recently as a second grade teacher. I have served as grade group chairperson and have served on such committees as the Leadership Team, Professional Growth Team, School Improvement , M.L.King Candle Light Ceremony, Social Club, Black History and Career Day.
It has been my great pleasure to be an actress, motivator, disciplinarian, mother, social worker, nurse or whatever else that children need for me to be, just as long as the ultimate goal of providing them with creative and fun learning experiences is accomplished. For me, it is not just a cliché when one says “Be all that you can be”, for it is my daily goal and responsibility to be just that, not only for myself but for my students.
