TOP TEACHER

Rogena Hartley doesn’t feel like she’s doing anything special when she’s teaching science to fifth graders at J.S. Aucoin Elementary, but the Louisiana Science Teachers Association disagrees.
They just named her LSTA Outstanding Elementary Science Teacher of the Year for 2014.
“I don’t feel like I’m doing anything special or spectacular. There are thousands doing the same thing or better,” Hartley said.
Principal Joe Stadalis said it is Hartley’s own curiosity that makes her an outstanding teacher.
“Even though Ms. Hartley feels as though she is not an exemplary science teacher, her personal trait of being inquisitive has translated to students having a better understanding of science,” Stadalis said.
Hartley, a 16-year veteran of J.S. Aucoin, said a colleague nominated her for the distinction. Stadalis and her co-workers wrote letters of recommendation, and she had to write a letter explaining her philosophy of teaching science.
“I want students to never stop asking why. If they are curious, they’ll never stop learning,” Hartley said, adding that she wants them to want to know why the banana on her desk is turning brown or the leaves of her ivy plant are striped.
In Stadalis’ letter of recommendation, he noted that 82 percent of her students demonstrated proficiency on the science portion of the iLEAP. He called the results admirable, noting that the population at J.S. Aucoin is 90 percent free or reduced lunch and about 60 percent of the students there are considered English Language Learners, meaning they are still learning to speak English.
Hartley will receive a $400 cash award to be used in her classroom or to defray expenses to a regional or national science teachers’ convention, a plaque, and recognition at the group’s conference in Shreveport later this month.