Amber Damm named 2009 Minnesota Teacher of the Year
For more information, contact:
Doug Dooher
651-292-4820 (work)
651-245-6141 (cell)
Brooklyn Park, Minn., May 3, 2009 – Amber Damm, a seventh- and eighth-grade English and language arts teacher at Clara Barton Open School in Minneapolis, has been chosen 2009 Minnesota Teacher of the Year.
Damm believes that “the most significant issue in public education is rooted in the question: How do we address the needs of all learners? I have a passion for discovering how students learn. How do all kids learn, no matter what they bring to the school they attend? They learn by experiencing authentic relationships with teachers and classmates who know and understand them.”
Damm brings her philosophy to the classroom every day. “Classrooms where the ideas, abilities and interests of students are incorporated into thoughtful curriculum flourish as the partnership of students’ effort coupled with expert instruction yields real growth and greater acquisitions of knowledge,” she says.
In a letter of support for Damm, her principal, Steven DeLapp, wrote, “She is an exemplary middle school educator who deeply touches the lives of the students she serves. She builds strong relationships with students and their families.”
And one of her students wrote, “I can’t think of a teacher who takes her free time to change a kid’s life and fights for what is right other than Amber.”
Damm has taught at Barton since 2001. She also taught for one year at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis. She has a master's degree in education from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts degree from North Central University in Minneapolis. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband.
Education Minnesota organizes and underwrites the Minnesota Teacher of the Year Program, which receives program and award support from the following organizations: The SMARTer Kids Foundation, The Northland Inn and Conference Center, the Harvard Club of Minnesota Foundation, United Educators Credit Union, McDonald’s Restaurants of Minnesota, Teacher Federal Credit Union, Pearson Education, and Education Minnesota ESI.
Damm will be Minnesota's nominee for National Teacher of the Year for 2010.
May 03, 2009