Sippican School Teacher Recognized

On Wednesday, June 6, the Marion School Committee convened for their last regular meeting of the academic year.  They began by recognizing the efforts of teacher Karen Jacobson, of the Sippican School, an 18-year veteran of education.  One of her current students, Emily Dineen, was invited to speak about how her teacher had positively affected her year in school.

“Mrs. Jacobson is the teacher whom I’ve admired most,” said Dineen.  “Mrs. Jacobson taught me a lot about myself. I came in really not confident, but I’m leaving a lot more tough, a lot more capable, and I’m more of a young woman than I was when I started.  She really did understand what I was trying to do all year.”

Dineen also told the story of the first day in Mrs. Jacobson’s class, and how when they first made eye contact with one another, she knew Mrs. Jacobson had figured her out and knew how to help Dineen succeed.

“She told me to expand out of my comfort zone.  She told me to try experiments.  I think that was the part of my life where I realized I could do more things than I thought I could, and it really hit me that she really had figured me out. She had seen people like me come through before.  It’s not just academics, it’s sports, art, and music, and my social life, too.”

The Committee then had former Sippican student and current Boston College English major, Meagan McCarthy, speak about how her experiences in Mrs. Jacobson’s class shaped her academic life.

“One of my favorite activities were the writing prompts from Mrs. Jacobson. We would receive different pictures and have to write a story about them,” McCarthy said.

She told of her proudest moment in seeing one of her compositions on the bulletin board, featured so the whole class could see.  McCarthy said that, though she was initially disappointed by the fact that Mrs. Jacobson didn’t always post her papers, no matter how good they were.

“As I saw other students’ stories up on the board, I realized Mrs. Jacobson was trying to get us to all feel a sense of pride in our work.  It was about us doing our personal best, not about being the best,” she said.

The Marion School Committee presented Jacobson with a special edition collection of poems about the ocean, inscribed with a thank-you message for all of her years of service in education.

In other business, the School Committee voted in favor of Mrs. Almeida’s fourth grade class participating in a fundraiser walk for juvenile diabetes research.  They also discussed preparations for improving the district’s practices for dealing with students with behavioral issues.  Since up to 20% of students in the district are receiving services for emotional or social learning issues, the School Committee is the midst of researching ways they can help teachers and administrators provide the environment and educational care required for students with anxiety, depression, or ADHD succeed academically.

The next meeting of the Marion School Committee will be on August 22, 2012, at 6:30 pm.

By Eric Tripoli

 

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