Crosby Park Elementary teacher Amanda Mack was humbled by her selection as Lawton Public School’s teacher of the year in 2021.
Now, she’s filling out paperwork and applying to become Oklahoma’s Teacher of the Year.
“It’s been so exciting,” she said. “It’s humbling above all. It’s one big family here. It’s kind of nice. I feel like a little celebrity when walking through the school.”
Mack understands the district as well as anyone. She graduated from Lawton Eisenhower and Cameron University and began her teaching career at Whittier Elementary where taught kindergarten for 12 years. She moved to Crosby Park where she taught second grade for two years, and then moved to third grade this school year.
“I always say we’re the profession that teaches all (other) professions,” Mack said. “I feel so blessed to be a teacher, but I’ve had to adapt after 15 years due to technology and COVID.”
The school environment isn’t what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic struck in March 2020, she said.
“The kids lost an incredible amount of time in the classroom and not everybody is at the grade level they should be because not everyone learned at the same pace when they were learning remotely,” Mack said.
However, there are ways in the Lawton district and statewide to fill the learning gap.
“You just have to be creative and understand not every student is at the same level,” she said.
Mack reaches a level of excitement and fun as a teacher when her students hit that “ah ha” moment and the learning light bulb comes on.
“That is priceless. I could not have a better job watching them as the light comes on,” she said. “It’s important to the kids and the kids are important to you.”
Applying for Oklahoma’s Teacher of the Year award takes a lot of work. It involves answering essay questions, a biography, detailed lessons she enjoyed and collecting three letters of recommendation. If she wins, she’ll spend the next school year traveling the state giving speeches about being a teacher.
Mack has researched if a Lawton teacher has ever won the statewide award, and to her knowledge Lawton has been shut out for that award. She’s hoping to change that. Finalists for the state award will be announced Oct. 8 and the winner will be announced in March 2023.
This isn’t Mack first foray into Teacher of the Year competitions. She was Whitter’s Teacher of the Year in 2019-2020 and was a finalist for district Teacher of the Year that same school year.
As she looks back on her life, Mack can’t remember a day when she didn’t want to be a teacher.
“Ever since I was young, I remember playing school and wanting to be a teacher,” she recalled. “Educators run in my family. I have a passion for teaching. I never considered anything else. It’s priceless when you have those kids in your classroom. It can’t get any better than this.”
When Mack began college, she was determined to teach kindergarten or high school English. As she took more education classes, she decided she would teach the younger students, which is one reason she’s spent 12 years teaching kindergarteners.
She’s earned several awards for her teaching. Mack was awarded the Masonic Lodge Teacher of Today in 2021. In September 2019, she received a top teacher award from Affinitee Graphics and Classic Chevrolet for excellence in education.
For the past 15 years, she has met Great Expectations’ criteria that help schools receive a special accreditation. Mack first achieved those goals during her first year at Whittier.