EDUCATION REPORT
–
May 2, 2002: Teacher of the Year
By Jerilyn Watson
This is the Special English Education Report.
A social studies teacher from the state of California has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year.
President Bush presented the award to retired Army officer Chauncey Veatch at a ceremony at the White House
last week. The president praised Mister Veatch for serving both the children and the nation well.
In accepting his award, Mister Veatch urged others to become teachers. He praised teaching as a way to become
part of America’s future. He spoke in English and Spanish.
Mister Veatch teaches at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, California. Most of his students have
families who speak Spanish. Many of the families are farm workers who move from place to place to pick grapes.
Mister Veatch is the son of a military family who also moved often. As a child he once attended five different
schools in four states during a single school year.
Mister Veatch’s students have won competitions in science, spelling and mathematics. They also have earned
scholarships --money to attend universities. This year, half of his thirty-four students said they want to become
teachers.
Mister Veatch is fifty-four years old. Before becoming a teacher, he served for twenty-two years as an Army
officer. He was a medical administrator. After retiring from the Army in Nineteen-Ninety-Five, he became
interested in teaching.
He asked the local school system if he could be a substitute teacher. He had never taught before. Still, the school
system gave him a job teaching science and mathematics to middle -school students. Mister Veatch attended
university classes at night, on weekends and during the summers. After three years, he completed the training
required to become a permanent teacher.
Mister Veatch will spend the next year away from his classroom. He will spread the message about the
importance of teaching.
American presidents have presented the Teacher of the Year Award to the country’s finest teachers every year
since Nineteen-Fifty-Two. The goal is to honor teaching and show support for education. President Bush also has
expressed special support for a program called Troops to Teachers. This program places retired members of the
military in public school teaching jobs.
This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.
Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version |