Congratulations to Belton Preparatory Academy’s Teacher of the Year, Megan Patterson! Mrs. Patterson is passionate, creative and consistently teaches her kindergarteners to read before Christmas each year. She makes the classroom fun and engaging for her Kindergarten students. She adds music and dance to the reading curriculum. She makes learning fun through hands-on activities. “Getting up and moving with the kids is exciting! This also helps them to remember the content better when they are able to have fun,” she says.
Teaching at BPA for three years has been a great experience for Mrs. Patterson. Even though she always wanted to be a teacher, she had a very difficult first year at a different school. Her passion for helping kids felt snuffed out by external factors. After taking a break, her husband found an opening at BPA. She was cautious, but after she met some faculty at the interview, she found that her calling to teach was reignited. “I accepted the position and immediately felt the spark for teaching burst into a flame!”
Mrs. Patterson continues to be thankful for the support and team spirit that BPA faculty and staff share.“ Everyone brings so much knowledge to the table and everyone is so willing to share in order to make us better. Collaboration between peers is so important to education.”
She also loves collaborating with her students’ families. “We have had families that brought their farm animals to the school to share with us, we have had children go to museums and come back to share with us what they learned about certain artists, other families have family members that live in other states or countries that we can discuss that ties into our curriculum. We may be part of a small town, but we are connected to other parts of the world in so many ways!”
She says her main job as a teacher is to plant and tend to “seeds” that she may not see immediately. “I hope to see the fruits of my labor much later in their lives. Maybe when they stand to give an answer in a complete sentence without being reminded, or read aloud to the class without being afraid.” She hopes her students learn to ask questions, learn from each other, grow in confidence and know they can go far in life. And, she hopes each student knows that “we always have their back. Even though they may move onto another grade and eventually graduate, they will always be part of the BPA family!”
