2007-2008 Teachers of the Year

Elementary School Teacher of the Year   

Mrs. Joy Cheney Hammatt, Westdale Academic Magnet   

Mrs. Joy Hammatt compared her teaching philosophy to that of a growing flower garden. She explained, the flowers in a garden come in different colors, sizes and may bloom at different times. Each flower needs special care to blossom at its best. Some flowers need more care than others and some even need more fertilizer than others. However, when a flower is not flourishing well, a gardener must be willing to try every solution possible to help each flower survive and blossom. And while Mrs. Hammatt is pruning her special garden of kindergarten students, she said her goal is to have every plant bloom to make the world a more beautiful place. Her greatest compliment in teaching comes when her students say, "Mom, I mean Mrs. Hammatt."

Middle School Teacher of the Year

Ms. Emily Elizabeth Compton, Park Forest Middle School

Although Emily Compton teaches science, she confessed that she truly aspires to teacher her students how to become independent thinkers, capable of disseminating any piece of information, reflecting upon it, and then forming an opinion. Along with independent thinking skills comes responsibility. Ms. Compton encourages and pushes her students when needed, but believes that ultimately an individual’s level of success is determined by that individual. In her classroom, incomplete work is not accepted, missing school does not go unnoticed, and completing simple worksheets or recall questions is not an option. Everyday, Ms. Compton challenges her students to analyze the information given to them and showing them how intelligent they are-Ms. Compton believes that her students will come to believe in themselves. 

High School Teacher of the Year

Ms. Susan Snowbarger, Northdale Magnet Academy

Although Susan Snowbarger's teaching career was somewhat delayed, as she took time off from college to get married and raise five children, she was determined to pursue her passion for teaching. Ms. Snowbarger returned to college to complete her Bachelor's Degree in Art Education followed by her Master's and presently working on her Doctorate. She knew early on that she wanted to teach students who others may have given up on-so when she interviewed at Northdale Magnet Academy, she felt she was right at home. She explained that each year as she watcheds her students walk across the stage at graduation, she cries. Ms. Snowbarger wrote that although she received grants for her school that enriched her students' lives and was recognized through scholarship awards, her greatest accomplishment is knowing that she made a difference in a student's life.