Wendy Washington

Wendy Washington receiving an award for teaching (http://www.sanclementetimes.com/schss-wendy-washin (Staff of San Clemente High School))

As her students ask questions and she answers creatively making them smile, she smiles back because she loves what she does. Setting up students for their future by teaching life lessons and valuable skills is hard to do, but my mother, Wendy Washington, does it every day. When I realized how important she is to young adults, I've admired her tenacity and intelligence even more than ever. She works incredibly hard and adapts her teaching to each and every student to ensure that they get the most out of her class. I, Sophia Hoiseth, her daughter, aspire to teach students when I grow up as she does.

Wendy with her students (http://www.sanclementetimes.com/setting-high-expec (Staff of San Clemente High School))

According to the Occupational Handbook Website, a high school teacher will "Plan lessons in the subjects they teach, such as biology or history, Assess students to evaluate their abilities, strengths, and weaknesses" as well as "Teach students in full class settings or in small groups". Teachers have many responsibilities, but these are the few that matter the most. They are responsible for instructing students in creative and captivating ways to grab students' attention. To become a teacher, it is necessary to have at least a bachelor's degree and mostly required to major in certain subject. Teacher typically receive a pay of $57,200 per year, and "Employment of high school teachers is projected to grow 6 percent from 2014 to 2024". This is around the average job growth for other occupations. Some other occupations that are related include principals, childcare workers, and career and technical education teachers.

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As a young person, Wendy was a very good student who had a few influential teachers that taught her life lessons and skills she would later use in her profession. They inspired her to positively impact students as those teachers impacted her. She attended 3 colleges in total: UCSB, CSUN, and UCI, and graduated in the mid-80s. From college she obtained a BA in theatre art and a master's degree in English. She started teaching in 1987 and won her first teacher of the year award in 1995. In 2015 she won teacher of the year for her school again as well as teacher of the year for the entire district she teaches in. She continues to teach to this day and also does 4 year planning with students to map out students' high school experience. Wendy is nearing her 29th year of teaching.

Because of Wendy's delightful, intelligent personality and captivating lessons, students are easily able to take valuable information learned in her class to their adult life. Students are constantly praising Wendy for her work with them, and her coworkers respect her greatly. Her boss, the former principal of San Clemente High School said, "She's a true teacher-leader, someone who helps not just her own students but our entire school move forward. She's a dedicated professional. The students love her. Every parent would love to have her be in their child's classroom". A senior taught by Wendy also said, "She's very compassionate and makes you a much better writer. She has expectations of her students". Wendy excels at her profession and the students and her peers benefit incredibly because of it.

My mother is a mentor for me, whether it would be in the specific subject of English, or in life in general. She's taught me almost everything I know, and I want to use that in the way that she uses her knowledge, which is teaching. With the combination of accelerated English courses and lessons I learned from her, I will be on my way to becoming a teacher. I will major in either English or biology, and attend a college that provides good programs and education for either. I try to learn and teach everyday as a student, because it's what I love to do, and I know how happy it can make someone because of Wendy Washington.