Mountainside Elementary School Kindergarten Teacher Stephanie Parish named as the district’s Teacher of the Year for 2023-2024.
MENDON—Cache County School District has announced their Teacher of the Year for 2023-2024 as Mountainside Elementary School kindergarten teacher Stephanie Parish.
“One of Stephanie’s greatest qualities is her heart,” MES Principal Cam Amott said. “Not just for her students but for her colleagues, for the profession, for teachers in general and so, Stephanie really cares about what’s happening.”
Parish has been a kindergarten teacher at Mountainside Elementary School for 11 years and has been described as a happy, inclusive and humble teacher who creates a classroom with a strong and vibrant culture that captivates students and parents alike.
She said she loves children’s books and has collected them for many years. She has her own library of over 4,000 books.
“It has been said that a good classroom library has 30 books per student,” Parish said. “I far surpass that goal. It has also been said that ‘mirrors and windows’ are important in education. Children need to be exposed to books that reflect their own identities, experiences, and motivations and also provide insight into the identities, experiences and motivations of others.”
Parish was presented with the award in front of her class in May and said she was speechless.
“I was actually speechless because I didn’t even realize that I would be in the running for that,” Parish said. “It was just a total surprise and really exciting.”
Amott said Parish was chosen for the award because she is not only great with students, but is at the fore front of working with the district kindergarten team to implement all-day kindergarten in the district.
Parish said the district saw a lot of growth with all-day kindergarten last year and is excited to see how much more growth will be seen this year as all-day kindergarten continues this year.
Parish has helped mentor new teachers and has helped to integrate the new kindergarten teachers.
“The way that she has mentored and cared and helped build their capacity as teachers is phenomenal,” Amott said.
Amott said Parish has been crucial to help with the community relations as well. He said when teachers and administrators discuss a student’s needs, Parish knows things about students administrators and staff may not know that may be affecting their academic performance.
“She does it in the most caring and loving way,” Amott said. “She just has such a good pulse on what’s happening out in our community that she’s an invaluable resource as far as helping us make sure that we understand what challenges are facing that student so that we can help them in the best way.”
He said Parish shows her love for the Mountainside community through building relationships in the community and through her students.
“She’s really is just the most inclusive and big-hearted person that you’ll find,” Amott said. “She really, really loves Mountainside, the families there, the kids that come through there.”
Academically, Amott said he is impressed with how well Parish does in the classroom. He said she was given some of the lowest performing kids last year but by the end of the year they were the third highest performing class in the district.
“She’s done some pretty phenomenal things with her students,” Amott said. “Her environment in the classroom is just such a warm and inviting place. The kids love coming by and spending time in Mrs. Parish’s class and the way that she works with them is incredible.”
CCSD Assistant Superintendent over Elementary Education Gary Thomas said when the district looks at candidates for teacher of the year for the district, they look for the whole package and someone who is a highly academic rockstar in the classroom, gets along with other adults, and also takes on additional tasks like mentoring teachers.
“She comes across to me as a very humble,” Thomas said. “She’s an amazing teacher. Doesn’t want the spotlight, doesn’t want the pazazz, doesn’t have any fluff or anything else about it, just this is what we do and here’s how we do it and she does such a good job.”
Parish said she discovered her love for teaching and early childhood education through a child development program she took as a class in high school.
She said the teacher recognized she was a senior in a class of underclassmen and encouraged her to help with kindergarten students that arrived at the child development center and fell in love with the kindergarten age.
“But, because of that teacher and giving me the opportunity and inspiring me, I found my love of teaching and kindergarten,” Parish said. “After that I pursued my education in early childhood education and I’ve been teaching kindergarten ever since.”
Parish said one of her favorite parts of teaching is that she is one of the first people to see the many firsts in a child’s life like writing their name for the first time or reading their first words.
“I sit center stage as they become artists and musicians and find their new best friend and learn how to come to school and learn to love school,” Parish said. “I love all of the aha moments that I get to see, those lightbulb moments when they learn how to do something for the first time. That makes it so worth it to me.”
As a teacher of reading, Parish said she has always felt very strongly about literacy because of the importance of literacy in people’s lives.
“Literacy helps people gain access to information,” Parish said. “Through literacy teachers can not only help students and families gain information, but we can use literacy to reduce religious, race, nationality, and gender inequalities. Literacy can empower people and enable them to make greater life choices. Literacy brings communities together.”
Parish was also named as one of the five finalists for the Utah State Teacher of the Year and she said she feels very honored but knows she didn’t achieve this on her own.
“Felt very honored but I also recognize that there is no way that I have done this on my own,” Parish said. “It’s because of great principals, great administrators, great district personnel, great faculty members that I’ve worked with, even down to our aides and support staff in our school, those are the people that help the school run and they help kids too.”
Parish said she would like teachers to remember the potential of every student in their class and even when it’s a frustrating or difficult day, not to give up on teaching.
“I would tell teachers to recognize that every child has an infinite potential,” Parish said.
Amott said Parish is a hard-working teacher who can be seen on Sunday nights at school prepping for the next week.
“She’s incredibly humble and doesn’t want any attention on herself, but will put herself out there for the needs of what she feels is right for her and kids,” Amott said.