Walter Johnson HS French Teacher Wins Excellence Award

Katherine Baird works with a student in her classroom at Walter Johnson High School.

Fifth-year teacher Katherine Baird, a French teacher at Walter Johnson High School, has been awarded the Marcellus Waddill Excellence in Teaching Award by Wake Forest University. Each year, the university honors an elementary and secondary teacher whose innovative skills make a difference in the classroom. With the honor, Baird earned a $20,000 cash prize.

Baird is the first MCPS teacher to win the award. Teachers are nominated for the honor, and winners are selected based on recommendation letters, lesson materials, videos of class instruction and an essay of educational philosophy.

“The judges found Katherine to be very creative, passionate and energetic in what she does. We were impressed that she was constantly learning and doing different things to be a better teacher,” says Mary Lynn Redmond, the chair of Wake Forest’s education department who led the selection committee.

Baird graduated in 2005 with a Master of Arts in education from WFU. She teaches French 1 and French 3 and sponsors the French Honor Society. She also is the senior class advisor, and teaches Promethean classes. Baird was selected as a model teacher for new French teachers to observe and has been involved in developing content for countywide exams.

“I love to see students walk in the door at the beginning of the year not knowing how to say anything in French and leave at the end of the year excited about being able to start communicating in the language,” Baird says. “I put a lot of effort into trying to make what we learn in class relevant to my students’ lives and am always looking for creative ways to engage students in learning French.”

The Waddill Award was established in 1994 in honor of Marcellus E. Waddill, professor of mathematics from 1962 to 1997. The award is given annually to one elementary school teacher and one secondary school teacher in recognition of exemplary classroom teaching in public or private schools. 

 

Last Updated: 11/2/2009