And the Winners Are ...
Gallup-McKinley teachers of the month honored

These are the teachers of the month, as selected by officials for the Gallup-McKinley County School District. Front row, from left, Mary Beth Buffaloe (Gallup Central High), Elizabeth Kayate (Tohatchi Mid-School), and Kathy Shaw (Red Rock Elementary); back row, Jeremy Hale (Crownpoint High), Susan Erickson (Jefferson Elementary) and Sheila Morrison (Tohatchi Mid-School). Not available on the day of the photo was taken was Erin McRaith (Tohatchi Elementary). [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff Writer

GALLUP — The problem, everyone says, is that teachers get neither the salary nor the appreciation they deserve.

Steve Coleman couldn't do anything about the salary of local teachers, but he got together with Pat and Barry Butler to do something about the appreciation part.

With three kids in the system, Coleman knew teaching wasn't the easiest profession in the world so the three got together with Chantal Irvin, who is an assistant superintendent at the Gallup-McKinley County School District, they came up with an idea to honor one teacher every month.

Irvin broke the competition up into grades with certain grades to be honored monthly and, to avoid the possibility of favoritism or popularity, devised a monthly essay competition on educational standards that would be graded by school professionals who would have no idea whose papers went with what teacher.

The winners each months as well as some of the runnersup were presented each month to the school board in special ceremonies. Besides a plaque, the winner received a gift certificate for dinner, a certificate for $75 in supplies at Butler's Office Supplies and other gifts from co-sponsors such as Gurley Motors.

It was a success, said Irvin but not an unqualified one.

For some of the months, the judges only had two or three nominees and the others months weren't much better.

"This was the first year we had it," said Irvin, vowing to try to get school officials throughout the district more involved in the competition next year and increasing the number of candidates.

The winners this past year were:

• Kathy Shaw, a kindergarten teacher at Red Rock Elementary.
• Susan Erickson, a first-grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary.
• Erin McRaith, a fourth-grade teacher at Tohatchi Elementary.
• Sheila Morrison, a sixth-grade teacher at Tohatchi Mid-School.
• Elizabeth Kayate, a seventh-grade teacher at Tohatchi Mid-School.
• Mary Beth Buffaloe, a 10th-grade teacher at Gallup Central.
• Jeremy Hale, who teaches at Crownpoint High School.

The interesting thing is that Shaw, Buffaloe and Hale all have less than three years of experience as teachers which Irvin said wasn't unusual. "We were looking for quality of teaching not longevity," she said.

While all of the teachers said they appreciated the honor, a couple said that that they wondered if they should accept it because they didn't feel that they were any better than any of their peers.

"There were a lot of other people who I thought were capable teachers," said Erickson. "There seemed to be no reason why I should get it."

Several of the winners said they liked the gifts, especially the gift certificate to Butler's since, as Morrison explained, it's not unusual for teachers to go deep into their own pocketbooks to buy instructional materials for their students.

Another common element among the winners was the joy of just having teachers recognized for doing a good job.

"Winning made me feel great," said Shaw, adding that it also made her feel she "should try harder."