The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recently recognized educators from across the state with its annual Teacher Impact Award.
The Teacher Impact Award recognizes educators who helped shape and influence incoming students at ASMSA. Students nominated teachers who aided their growth both intellectually and emotionally. There were more than 100 teachers nominated for recognition. Every educator who was nominated received a certificate of recognition. A letter highlighting their recognition also was sent to each educator’s principal.
A committee of ASMSA staff members read through the recommendations to give further recognition to five educators from different regions within the state. These stand-out teachers received an additional gift.
Educators who received additional recognition this year include: Heather James of Camden Fairview High School; Seth Jernigan of eStem Junior High School in Little Rock; Matthew Kalkbrenner of White Hall High School; Tara Parra, a former middle school teacher at Decatur Middle School; and Robin Sneed of Blytheville High School.
Teaching is hard work, and often teachers don’t know how much they have positively influenced their students once they have graduated or moved on to further their education. The Teacher Impact Award allows a more immediate recognition of how educators helped shape their pupils.
Heather James was nominated by Anna Jones, a junior from Camden. Jones said James always worked hard to support her students, sharing a story about James holding an after-school study session before an AP World History exam.
“Only five of us showed up, but she made sure that all five of us knew everything we needed to know for the test. I walked into the testing room ready to ace that exam. I don’t think I could have been more prepared for it,” Jones said.
Junior Aarohi Sonputri of Little Rock nominated Seth Jernigan, a history teacher at eStem High School in Little Rock. Sonputri took a Personal Finance/Civics class taught by Jernigan during her freshman year. The class included discussions about global challenges, including those faced by Nepal, Sonputri’s family’s native home.
“I was offered [the opportunity] to write an essay on poverty for extra credit, and though he may have never realized, it ignited in me a churning passion for societal welfare and studying global equity,” she said.
Matthew Kalkbrenner of White Hall High School was nominated by Emily Xiong, a junior from White Hall. Xiong was a student in one of Kalkbrenner’s science classes.
“Kalkbrenner was the first science teacher’s class I really enjoyed,” Xion said. “He didn’t just give us a workbook page and let us figure everything out on our own, but he actually taught us every day. He held tutoring sessions every day before school and every Wednesday after school without fail.
“Since science has always been a hard subject for me, Kalkbrenner was really patient and answered all of my questions whenever I had them. Sometimes I didn’t get it the first time and he had to explain it again, but he never made me feel bothersome or that I couldn’t ask him questions.”
Tara Parra was nominated by two former students who had Parra as a middle school English and Social Studies teacher at Decatur Middle School — sophomores Jaime Hernandez Perez and Jonathan Matul.
Hernandez Perez cited Parra’s ability to make English easier to learn for him when he was new at the school as well as her challenging her Social Studies classes with projects that allowed him to express himself artistically and emotionally as reasons for her nomination. Parra also served as a role model for him, he said.
“I always knew I could trust her with anything. To this day, even though she is not my teacher anymore, I still recur to her whenever I need some encouraging words. She never failed to make me see the positive side of every single struggle I had, and that’s a big part of what made me become who I am today,” Hernadez Perez said.
Matul said Parra helped him grow into the person he is today during the two years he had her as a teacher.
“Mrs. Parra influenced me through those two years, changing me and the way I think about what is right and wrong. She gave me advice when I was struggling and helped me when I needed it the most. Thanks to Mrs. Parra, I was able to learn how to act and how to be the best version of myself,” Matul said.
Robin Sneed, an Honors English teacher and instructional facilitator at Blytheville High School, was also nominated by two students — juniors Jayden Patel and Jameil Modica.
Patel said Sneed made her class and subject something he looked forward to every day. She also was able to relate her topics to modern situations which allowed students better understand them.
“Time and again she has surprised me with different methods of teaching. Overall, everything Ms. Sneed teaches and assigns may not interest every student, but the way she taught us and incorporated real-life lessons into her teachings kept students engaged,” Patel said.
Modica said Sneed tried to get to know each of her students on a personal level, allowing her to connect them with the subject.
“She helped me learn the finer arts of books and the things I can use to analyze text to better understand the subject,” Modica said. “With her help, I was able to improve my literacy and reading skills to a finer point. I also got to read some pretty interesting books from hundreds of years ago.”