Congratulations to our April Teachers of the Month: Emily Swank-Kavanaugh, Sean Ring and Jill Crawford! Thank you to everyone who nominated teachers this month. Take a look at some of the wonderful things their nominators shared about these outstanding educators in Westerville City Schools and, begin again in August, be sure to nominate the amazing teachers in your school!
Special thank you to Education First Credit Union, who sponsors our special Teacher of the Month program each month. Winners get $100 to use in their classroom fund, they are featured on our website with past winners, and they get the fame and glory this month.
Congratulations to these teachers and thank you to ALL our Westerville City School teachers for all that you do to support our students!
Emily Swank-Kavanaugh - Westerville South High School
“This is our first experience with Ms. Swank. When the school year started my child was lost and struggling and she made so much effort to get hold of her and let her know she understood what she was going through. She is constantly on her side and goes to the students level and pulls them up to her level. She has made this year in IB a wonderful experience. After the craziness of COVID and the Summer events involving many of our black students, she has incorporated a curriculum that has included black voices giving my child a new voice. I have had three children go through WCS and have waited 18 years to have a teacher make a change. She is awesome, communicates well and has opened doors that have been needed for a long time. I really hope her example leads other teachers to follow.” - parent of student
Sean Ring - Westerville North High School
Mr. Ring has been absolutely wonderful in working with my student, Evan, this year. He has met with them often to discuss not just missing assignments in his class, but overall missing assignments and really anything else going on. He has helped provide perspective on academics, create a game plan, been an advocate for my child with other teachers, almost been a counselor and definitely been a friend to my child. Evan knows she can talk to him about anything and he is always reaching out to see what's happening and if he can help. During this pandemic year, he has been the right teacher at the right time for my kid and I'm incredibly grateful for his steady, wise, patient presence in their life. Fall quarter, Evan was truly suffering with remote learning. Just could not manage the workload of all the AP classes from home without the enjoyment of in-person interaction. They were struggling to find an organizational system that worked and they had fallen very far behind in all classes. They were miserable and felt incredibly down on themselves. They sent an email to all of their teachers late one night, saying: I'm drowning in work. I need help. I don't know how to do all this work. Etc. Most of the teachers forwarded the email to the guidance counselor, who called me. And we discussed a plan. But Mr. Ring emailed Evan back and wanted to help work with the other teachers. He wanted to get right in the trench with my kid and figure it out. He wanted them to know they weren’t alone in it and that they were still smart and capable and that together they would figure it out. And they have been working together on that plan ever since. And that has made all the difference. I'm so grateful to him.” - parent of student
“This teacher/coach has gone above and beyond for my son. My child has really struggled and developed depression and Coach Ring has been there to support him through it all. He never gave up on him and I truly believe he is the reason we still have our child today. Coach Ring gave my child a place to stay when he was in a really bad place. He made sure he had food and did his best in life coaching him to make better decisions. He was ready to give up and Coach Ring is absolutely the reason why he didn’t.” - parent of student
Jill Crawford - Westerville Central High School
“Ms. Crawford is a wonderful teacher! She really cares about her students. While my son has been in the Virtual Academy, Ms. Crawford has been working with me to help him do better in algebra 2. She has been keeping me updated on his weekly progress, which I have really appreciated. Thank you Ms. Crawford! Ms. Crawford has been sending me weekly charts of my son’s progress and relaying how he is doing. Without her help, I would never be able to try and help him.” - parent of student
