Jamie Yoos, a chemistry teacher at Bellingham High School, was named 2010 Washington Teacher of the Year at a press conference this afternoon.
State Superintendent Randy Dorn recognized the nine Regional Teachers of the Year and announced the State Teacher of the Year at a ceremony hosted by Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame and The Beresford Company. Yoos will represent Washington in the National Teacher of the Year competition. The national honoree will be announced by President Obama in the spring.
“Jamie and all the teachers of the year represent our very best because they put student success above everything else,” Dorn said. “Where others might see challenges, they see opportunities.”
Yoos and his fellow teachers were also praised by program sponsors, PEMCO Insurance, SMARTer Kids Foundation, and Saxton Bradley, Inc. who donated cash awards, technology prizes and scholarships for classroom improvements for both the State and Regional Teachers of the Year.
Yoos teaches chemistry and bicycle maintenance at Bellingham High School, where students say high standards, innovative methods and mutual respect make his classes both their most challenging and most exciting.
Yoos' classroom is a place of industry and experiment where students learn that new discoveries are only made when individuals have the courage to risk being wrong. To stay in touch with his students’ beginner experiences, Yoos takes on learning a new skill himself every year. Most recently, he has started kite boarding.
Yoos is passionate about teaching to multiple intelligences, and he is especially committed to hands-on learning. For his chemistry classes, he produces vodcast (video podcast) lectures that students view at home to maximize the amount of lab time in class. Yoos also engages kinesthetic learners in his bicycle maintenance class, where students are asked to problem solve, communicate effectively and utilize technology every day.
Yoos was selected as the 2008-09 Districtwide Certificated Staff Member of the Year during the district's annual award process earlier this spring.
Yoos has taught at Bellingham High since August 2004 where he currently instructs students in honors chemistry, Advanced Placement (AP) chemistry and bicycle maintenance/indoor cycling for fitness.
Students, parents, teaching colleagues and supervisors have found Yoos' teaching inspirational and innovative. "[Jamie's] commitment to academic rigor, willingness to enhance programs and dedication to students is unparalleled,'' says Bellingham High principal Steve Clarke.
Recent BHS graduate Claire Rachor is in full agreement. "Mr. Yoos has the most passion for the subject he teaches and brings fervor and compassion to every class. He is very diligent and has an industrious work attitude...The time in his class is always precious and I do not ever remember wasted time," Rachor says.
John Hoffman, a teaching colleague and head of the BHS science department, summarized Yoos' remarkable teaching in a letter of support for his nomination: "Jamie's pedagogical innovations are helping today's students to excel in concept, acquisition and mastery. Some of the most abstract ideas are transmitted by Jamie's careful attention to lesson design, experience and accountability. He shines in both the amount that students are held accountable while simultaneously finding themselves supported," writes Hoffman.
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