Lisa Snyder's journey to being named San Joaquin County Teacher of the Year began more than 20 years ago and 7,300 miles away as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the African nation of Niger



"She's selfless. ... It's never about her," Brown said. Jason Messer, assistant superintendent of educational services for the Manteca Unified School District has already written his letter explaining why Snyder should be named statewide Teacher of the Year. Messer has more experience watching Snyder teachin her fellow teachers than observing her in the classroom. "She's one of those unique teachers who has really learned that balance between the science of teaching and the art of teaching," he said.

Lisa Snyder's journey to being named San Joaquin County Teacher of the Year began more than 20 years ago and 7,300 miles away as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the African nation of Niger

Sierra instructor named S.J.'s top teacher

Sep 6, 2007 — Knight Ridder Tribune Business News

Sep. 6--MANTECA -- Lisa Snyder's journey to being named San Joaquin County Teacher of the Year began more than 20 years ago and 7,300 miles away in the African nation of Niger.

It was there, during a stint with the Peace Corps, Snyder discovered she wanted to become a teacher. She already loved science, so that became her speciality. She's now the Science Department head at Sierra High School, where she's taught for the past s ven years. Districts from across the county nominate teachers for the distinction, and the winner was announced by the county Office of Education on Wednesday. Snyder is now in the running to be one of five California Teachers of the Year. It can be hard to get a student to love science, but a teacher excited about the subject can bring her students along with her, Snyder said.

"And that can be contagious," she said. One popular experiment for students in Snyder's freshman physics class uses poster board and Christmas tree lights to learn circuitry, she said. Snyder doesn't lose that excitement when she leaves the classroom. Kathy Brown teaches some of the same classes as Snyder at Sierra High, so the pair work together to write lesson plans and come up with hands-on experiments, Brown said. "We have a good time planning stuff together," she said. Snyder doesn't teach a lesson and think her work is done; she will teach and reteach until a child learns what's being taught, Brown said.

"She's selfless. ... It's never about her," Brown said. Jason Messer, assistant superintendent of educational services for the Manteca Unified School District has already written his letter explaining why Snyder should be named statewide Teacher of the Year. Messer has more experience watching Snyder teachin her fellow teachers than observing her in the classroom. "She's one of those unique teachers who has really learned that balance between the science of teaching and the art of teaching," he said.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: September, 2007; Peace Corps Niger; Directory of Niger RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Niger RPCVs; Awards; Secondary Education; California

When this story was posted in November 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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