Venice Elementary art teacher named Sarasota’s 2020 Teacher of the Year

Heather Young receives the district’s top honor for educators and will advance to state-wide competition.

She has only been teaching art for a few months, but Venice Elementary School teacher Heather Young pulls from more than 20 years of experience as a classroom gifted teacher as she helps hundreds of students get their hands dirty and be creative.

Her two decades of experience are paying off. On Wednesday the Education Foundation of Sarasota County announced that Young was the 2020 Sarasota County School District Teacher of the Year.

Young, who was declared the district’s top teacher during a Wednesday morning luncheon at the Westin Sarasota, said she wants to use her new platform to advocate for the value of arts education, especially as academic standards have become increasingly rigorous.

“The curriculum has gotten so intense for kids, so I just feel like they need a time in their day when they can come and just be allowed to be creative,” Young said. “They have it in them. They are amazing, and I just get out of their way.”

Young has loved the transition from an academic classroom to an art room, and she said she was initially motivated to make the switch because of how excited her students would get when they had the opportunity to make something.

“I’ve had kids say, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever done something I’m proud of,’” she said.

Young was one of three finalists, including Venice High School career and technical education teacher Josh Grant and Sarasota Military Academy Prep School math teacher Marissa Dobbert.

Grant, known as the unofficial “Voice of Venice” for announcing the school’s football games, said his passion is helping students who may have struggled academically find a real-world skill with which they can thrive. He said his subject matter can be tedious at times, teaching students the basic computer skills they will need when they enter the workforce, but he views his class as a family.

“Kids learn from someone they like, someone they trust,” he said.

Dobbert has become a mentor to a dozen other teachers at SMA Prep, and administrators bring new teachers to her classroom to help them witness a pro in action. Dobbert said she begins each year by asking how many students hate math class, and she loves the challenge when facing a room of students who dread the year ahead.

“The more hands that go up, the more excited I am,” she said.

Wednesday morning’s event brought together each school’s Teacher of the Year. The teachers enjoyed a day off as they dined on quiche and arugula salad alongside the foundation and donor set that frequents such luncheons.

Shane Swezey, the 2019 Teacher of the Year for the district, joked about attending the swanky event in a $99 suit and performed “The Schoolteacher Blues” with 2019 Florida Teacher of the Year Dakeyan “Dre” Graham from Hillsborough County. The duo’s call-and-response blues song highlights the lack of bathroom breaks, abundance of acronyms and pressures of testing that teachers deal with.

Swezey urged his fellow teachers to enjoy the moment in the spotlight but to also find the deeper motivation behind their work.

“If we are always waiting for the applause of man, we may be disappointed,” Swezey said.

The Teacher of the Year honorees were not the only winners Wednesday morning.

Education Foundation President Jennifer Vigne announced that each teacher in Sarasota would receive $350, courtesy of a $1 million donation from Eric Baird, the former CEO of MyUS.com, a package consolidation and shipping service.

Baird pleaded guilty to violating federal export laws in 2017, costing him $10 million in fines and two years of probation. His $1 million gift to the Education Foundation will allow teachers to use the money any way they choose, whether for personal purposes or to advance an education initiative in their classroom.

Young will receive a $2,500 check from the Education Foundation, and she will advance to the statewide competition; the winner will be announced next spring.

As a former teacher for gifted students, Young said as she represents the county, she will promote gifted education teaching techniques, which emphasize targeting a student’s natural ability and customizing lessons.

“Those things we were taught in our gifted classes to get certified are just great practices,” she said. “I think every child is worthy of a gifted education.”

Originally published at https://www.heraldtribune.com.