By Mason Osgood
Photo courtesy Norwood Public Schools
Rain clouds hovering over Norwood didn’t diminish the buzz of excitement inside the Norwood school. It’s Tuesday, September 17th, and a group of administrators and visitors gather to surprise second and third grade teacher Shelley Donnellon.
Emma Garrett Nelson is Chief Communications Officer with the Colorado Department of Education. For the past two weeks, she and her colleagues have been traveling around the State to announce the finalists of Colorado Teacher of the Year.
“We have this program called Teacher of the Year and we ask everybody in Colorado, we ask who are your favorite teachers, and we got one thousand nominations,” Garrett Nelson explains to students. “A thousand teachers in the entire state were nominated including your teacher, and out of those thousand we had ninety three teachers do an application process. It’s a very hard process, and oftentimes teachers don’t like to brag about their awesomeness and that can be kind of challenging for teachers to do. Out of those ninety three applicants we had seven finalists, and your teacher is one of those seven finalists”
It's a big deal. There are about 55,000 teachers throughout the state of Colorado, and as Garrett Nelson shares, Donnellon is one of the top seven. Garrett Nelson hands over a check for $1500 dollars for Donnellon to use as she likes, in addition, a $500 donation to Norwood schools on behalf of the Boettcher Foundation.
Gathered in Donnellon’s second and third grade classroom is the who’s who of Norwood. The Superintendent, Principal, School Board Members. The Norwood Town Clerk; even her husband, San Miguel Sheriff Deputy Michael Donnellon.
While the state is now recognizing Donnellon’s accomplishments in the classroom, for her students, it's no surprise.
“She makes her teaching fun, she gets nice cool activities, fun and activities,” says one student.
“She lets us do fun activities, and she’s so nice and pretty and just makes us all happy,” chimes in another.
Donnellon and her extended family have been in Norwood for over four generations, and she's taught for eleven years. Garrett Nelson, is excited to be in the Norwood school district, and to meet Donnellon in person.
“We’re just really excited to be here, our teachers are absolutely phenomenal and extraordinary and especially in a District like this and when you have someone who is homegrown and who has made the choice to be here who just loves this district,” Garrett Nelson says, “she described herself as ‘Norwood through and through’ and I think thats something thats really really special about Shelley.”
Todd Bissell, Norwood’s newest superintendent of three months, already has high praise of Donnellon.
“She has made so many contributions to the school over the years, I’ve only known her for about three months being new here but going into her classroom it's always engaging, students are on task, they’re having fun, smiles on their faces, and that's what we like to see,” Bissell says.
Donnellon’s giddy students gather around her for a group photo, as she holds her award and check for $1,500. The seven finalists will go through a second interview process, and classroom visits from the state of Colorado, before a final winner is announced in early October.
But Donnellon says it’s incredible to make it this far. “I am shocked and honored, so I never in my wildest dreams thought that this was and option,” she says “I appreciate everyone, I couldn’t have done it myself, the kids here are great, the families here are great, the staff, the support, the town, I mean this is just really the best place”
As the celebrations draw to a close, staff goes back to work, and the students take their seats for the next lesson, standing at the front of the room is one of the top teachers in Colorado.