Wednesday, February 20, 2008

State Teacher of the Year

Denise Cannon, Los Lunas teaching coach, celebrates award, birth of her third child

Kenn Rodriguez News-Bulletin Staff Writer; krodriguez@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas Sitting at her desk in a portable classroom at Katherine Gallegos Elementary School, Denise Cannon said she still hasn't quite come around to the idea that she is New Mexico's Teacher of the Year.

"All these different organizations are now e-mailing me and asking me to read their books, you know?" she said with a little laugh. "I'm the same person I was last week."

Cannon, 38, was honored as the state's top teacher Friday, Feb. 15, at a luncheon at the Inn of Loretto in Santa Fe. The program is part of the National Teacher of the Year program, which was started in 1952.

Cannon is the first teacher from Los Lunas to achieve the honor and the second from Valencia County. Belen teacher Gail Harman won the award in 1989.

Cannon said she found out about the honor in October - not long after giving birth to her third child, Echo.

"I had my baby girl Oct. 6, then the next week was when they called and told me I was State Teacher of the Year," she said. "It was overwhelming, to say the least."

Cannon, who has taught in the Los Lunas Schools since 1996 and has spent most of that time at KGE after stints at Ann Parish and Bosque Farms elementary schools, said the support she got from Los Lunas district officials was equally overwhelming.

"It was so funny because two tables were taken up by Los Lunas district office representatives," she said. "The superintendent was there, the deputy superintendent, superintendent of curriculum, director of curriculum. We had the biggest showing. In fact, the director said 'This would have been a very small gathering if Los Lunas hadn't shown up today.' So they were there in force to support me, which was amazing."

Cannon said she's already taken one trip to Dallas with the other 49 state Teachers of the Year and will take four more trips before September, including a jaunt to Washington, D.C., in late April.

"We get to do some lobbying and take some classes," she said. "And we get to meet President Bush and his wife Laura - I'm excited about that."

Cannon said she'd also be traveling to Austin, Texas, and New York City for conferences as well as NASA's Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., this summer.

"We had a trip to Dallas, all the state Teachers of the Year, a couple of weeks ago, and it was incredible talking to teachers from all over the country," she said. "Seeing that they have the same sort of issues that we have here in New Mexico but still have the same passion and dedication for the professions."

She's also been invited to go to Eastern New Mexico University in the summer. "I'm doing all these different speaking engagements around the state," she said. "Eastern New Mexico (University) asked me to be the keynote speaker for their teacher's conference this summer. So it's all overwhelming."

As for the honor, Cannon said she's been humbled by all the attention.

"I was shocked," she said. "Teachers work so hard, and they do the best that they can. And when you're recognized for it, when you feel so passionately about the profession it's just ... it's a great feeling. It's such a validation. And it's so humbling, because I work with the teachers here who are just incredible. We have some of the hardest working people in the state."

Mildred Chavez, principal at Katherine Gallegos Elementary, said she thinks the honor is very well deserved.

"When we were riding up to Santa Fe, I told her one of the things I admire about her is that she's able to share," she said. "You get a lot of educators and they're wonderful, but they'll never share anything because they're afraid to give up the secrets of their trade. But she doesn't.

"She'll bring everything she's got and say 'Take what you need.' That's what makes her unique, and it's the mark of a true teacher. She's just a teacher's teacher and a stellar educator."

Cannon said being able to go to conferences has been even more exciting for her as a teaching coach than the actual honor she's received.

"It's been fantastic professional development for me - I've learned so much," she said. "When I do get my classroom back in a couple of years, it'll be tremendous, the things I'll be able to try out in my classroom that I've only been able to show other teachers how to do.

"It's been an exciting position, supporting teachers, and I really like it," Cannon said. "Last year was so difficult because I didn't have my own group of kids to work with every day. You miss that. But working with the teachers is so amazing. They teach me a lot. It's been eye-opening. And being able to support them in what they need has been very fulfilling."

She said winning the state award has caused her to really think about what she can to for other teachers to further the profession.

"It's very humbling," she said. "It makes me really dig deep and figure out why I'm being recognized for this. My friends tell me it's all the years of hard work and caring about the kids and devoting yourself to the profession.

"So it probably means I'm on the right track and that I need to keep learning. It's a huge honor, and I'm still reeling from it and in shock."

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