An Olympus Junior High School teacher from Holladay has been awarded one of six outstanding teacher awards for the PTA's 2008 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education. The Utah PTA Golden Apple Awards 2008 premieres on KUED-Channel 7 Wednesday, May 28, at 8 p.m. This special program features the awards ceremony, in combination with on-site footage shot at Olympus Junior High.
The PTA honored Andrew McIntyre, selected from numerous nominees from nearly every school in Utah. School Principal Eric Bergmann says McIntyre serves numerous roles at the school and definitely has a "student-first mentality." Bergmann said McIntyre's duties include being student government advisor, girls' basketball coach, chess team coach and running an after-school math tutoring lab.
McIntyre's students say his assignments are a lot more interesting than the "same old boring book assignments." Under his direction, students formed fantasy football teams at the beginning of the year to practice fractions. One parent said her son mastered math concepts easily through McIntyre's use of origami, foldables, and taking an object and constructing that same object out of cardboard at 10 times its original size.
Affectionately referred to as "Mr. Mac," his students say he works with them until they "get it." A former student now in her first year of college fondly remembers McIntyre as being the "best math teacher I ever had" - and the only math teacher from which she received an ‘A'.
Several years after being in McIntyre's class, she still carries with her the ‘Prime Numbers' sheet that she made in his class. "Mr. Mac told us that if we ever came back to the school and still had our ‘Prime Numbers' sheet, he would pay us $1.00." She surprised McIntyre with her recent visit, stopping to show his current students her much-used ‘Prime Numbers' sheet. And, just as she expected, ‘Mr. Mac' handed her a dollar from his wallet.
McIntyre involves parents in their student's education by assigning homework which requires the students to teach their parents a math concept. "While this is a great way for parents to keep up on their math skills, it also ensures that the student understands the concept more fully and gives parents a glimpse into what their student is learning," McIntyre said.
His nominators say McIntyre works closely with the PTA and studentbody officers to accomplish several service projects each year. As the advisor to the studentbody officers, McIntyre instigated "Project Terry" when it was learned that Terry, one of the school's custodians needed some help.
One mother writes: "My daughter was a studentbody officer two years ago when we learned that the janitor's wife had breast cancer and Terry, who was deaf, needed a cochlear implant. Mr. McIntyre helped students raise money by writing celebrities and then auctioning off obtained items. They even got Peter Breinholt to do a benefit concert. They got enough publicity that a kind doctor in town donated the cochlear implant."
When requests for an "Extreme Home Makeover" were not successful, McIntyre and the studentbody officers decided to do it themselves. One parent said what McIntyre taught them about service "will stick with these kids throughout their lives!"
The Golden Apple Awards are funded in part by the Emma Eccles Jones Foundation, Utah Education Network, Educators Mutual Insurance Association, and the Utah Education Association.
The Utah PTA Golden Apple Awards 2008 premieres on KUED-Channel 7 Wednesday, May 28, at 8 p.m., repeating Sunday, June 1, at 6 p.m. Video clips and interviews with each award recipient can be seen on the KUED web site: http://www.kued.org/goldenapples
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Golden Apple Award Recipient Andrew McIntyre Download |
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