CHARLESTON, W.Va. –Teachers across the state being celebrated Monday evening while also being surprised with an all-expense paid trip to Atlanta to get to experience the Ron Clark Academy this summer.
Educators from Kanawha, Wayne, and Harrison County Schools, among others, gathered at the Clay Center in Charleston Monday evening for the Ignite the Classroom event put on by Huntington Bank in partnership with Ron Clark, a world-renowned teacher from North Carolina. Teachers will get the chance to observe Ron’s unique teaching philosophy and his best practices.
Huntington Bank President Brandt Standridge and president of Huntington’s WV Region Chad Prather were on MetroNews Talkline Monday morning to talk about the event.
Standridge says that the event is really about investing into the future of education.
“Our company can’t be successful if the communities that we live in and operate in aren’t successful and at the center of that is investing in education and we believe the one of the most direct ways that we can invest in education and frankly the future of our communities is to invest directly in teachers,” he said.
Prather agreed, saying that it gives Huntington Bank the opportunity to give back.
“And this is our opportunity to give back to those teachers that give us so much and really leading the next generation of our workforce as well,” Prather said.
Marci Wandling, a teacher at West Side Middle School in Charleston says that hearing Ron’s story and being a part of the event was amazing.
She says that she loved when Ron talked about his experience with learning how to jump rope, because it helps create a bond between the kids and teacher.
“When students become the teacher and they teach you something that really will soften their hearts, because middle schoolers have very hard hearts, so you got to soften it,” she said.
Wandling was also one of the teachers who got chosen to have Ron Clark experience.
She says that she looks forward to getting that spark back after teaching for 25 years.
“Getting re-inspired, where I’ve taught so long sometimes it’s hard to go in a new year and get some new ideas even it’s that one percent,” Wandling said.
Another teacher, Stephanie Brennan who teaches at Hayes Middle School in St. Albans said what really resonated with her while Ron was talking was that teachers don’t always have to give 100 percent, they can give one percent and still make a difference.
“Knowing that I don’t have to give 100 percent all of the time, that makes me feels better as a teacher because sometimes we feel like we have to give 100 percent all of the time, just knowing that one percent is enough,” Brennan said.
Brennan was also one of the teachers that was chosen to go to Atlanta.
She says she is looking forward to being able to learn to be able to bring it back to her classroom.
“I think as teachers we’re always trying to learn something new to be better in the classroom, to make us better, so that our kids can be better,” Brennan said.
Standridge says that the teachers will be able to take a lot from this experience, but they will also see that they are being seen and appreciated.
“But one of the things that they take from it is to know that a company like Huntington and the many partners across our geographic footprint here in West Virginia that support this actually see them and recognize and appreciate them has a massive impact,” he said.