Celebrating Outstanding Educators: Christie Meadows Wins Above And Beyond Award From WVPB

Christie Meadows, a fifth grade teacher at Glenwood School, Mercer County has earned West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Above and Beyond Award for May, which recognizes excellence and creativity of Mountain State teachers.

Meadows was presented the award by WVPB’s Education Specialist Autumn Meadows. Christie Meadows received a monetary award and a signature Blenko Glass blue apple paperweight. The award is sponsored by the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office, presenter of the SMART529 college savings program in the Mountain State.

Meadows has been a full-time teacher for 20 years and an educator for 26. She knew since she was a child playing school at home that she wanted to be a teacher. Her dedication to the profession and her students shows both in the classroom and in the community.

In the classroom, Meadows makes an effort to involve parents. Throughout the year she will bring them into the classroom to do things like crafts and in the past, she would do a career day for parents to volunteer to come in and present. Meadows said it’s important to include parents so that they can see what their child is experiencing at school and for the students to see their parents involved.

Meadows also goes above and beyond with classroom projects that engage the students but also reinforce skills taught and learned. Students would complete scavenger hunts, create PowerPoints, and participate in different experiments that involved melting holiday candies. In years past, they also wrote books as a class that were published for the students. This year, they had the opportunity to have pen pals in California and after a yearlong correspondence they got to virtually meet over ZOOM.

Meadows’ dedication reaches outside the classroom by showing the students the impact they can have in their community. They’ve collected and made stockings for local nursing homes, collected food and items for animal shelters, made cards for veterans, and this year they also fixed a meal for Amy’s House of Hope which provides meals to unhoused people in the community.

Meadows also practiced inclusivity by making sure her class did fun activities with students with disabilities not in the general education classrooms, such as bingo, Easter egg hunts, crafts and snacks. She said all these activities are her favorites. Meadows said, “I want them to see that not everyone has what they do and teaches them to put others before themselves. The kids look forward to these activities and truly enjoy helping others. They ask, ‘What else can we do?’”

“I love teaching,” said Meadows, “I love when you see a student who struggles begin to understand a concept. I love when they are willing to do things for others and not just themselves. I love watching students grow not just academically but socially and personally as well.”

Each month, WVPB has an esteemed panel of judges that select one deserving teacher who goes above and beyond for the students in West Virginia. If you know of a deserving teacher that goes “Above and Beyond,” please click here to nominate them.

As part of the Above and Beyond program, WVPB and the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office will be hosting a Jurassic Jamboree at Marion County Public Library this Saturday, Aug. 5 with free goodies and a meet and greet with Buddy from the PBS KIDS show Dinosaur Train.