Behind every great student is a great teacher. These teachers make spelling and vocabulary fun. They serve as spelling coaches, moderators and judges, but more often than not, they are simply motivators who encourage the students to be the best they can be. In the "Teacher Feature," we celebrate the men and women who educate the youth of our country.
River Elementary (formerly Sardis Elementary) in eastern
Ohio holds a special place in the heart of Mrs. Linda Schmidt. She remembers
her father telling stories of competing in spelling bees there. It's where she
went to school. And it's where she taught for more than 40 years before
retiring after this past school year.
Just before her retirement, Mrs. Schmidt added another memory to her time at the school when former student Peyton Hall competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. in May, 2014.
"I coached Peyton when he was in fifth grade and I told him that he would make it to D.C. in seventh or eighth grade," Mrs. Schmidt said. "He just had this incredible ability to apply spelling to other areas and he was a gifted writer, especially non-fiction."
While Mrs. Schmidt believed in her student, Peyton credits his teacher's words and lessons for his success.
"Mrs. Schmidt made spelling fun by having weekly 'spelling
squares' which were designed like a tic-tac-toe board," Peyton said. "Each
square represented a different activity such as using words in alliterative
sentences, writing a narrative and creating spelling art."
Peyton also says Mrs. Schmidt instilled a love of reading in him through her dynamic presentation of literary pieces which led to meaningful discussions and extended response writings.
"Mrs. Schmidt's enthusiasm for teaching language arts has inspired me to become a logophile," Peyton said.
The Scripps National Spelling Bee thanks Mrs. Schmidt for her long and dedicated career to teaching language arts. We wish her the best in her retirement.
If you'd like to nominate a teacher for an upcoming teacher feature, let us know. Fill out your contact information at the link, then nominate the teacher on the following page.