One of our local teachers has been selected as a recipient of the 2020 UEA Excellence in Teaching Award. Marsha Curtis teaches sixth and seventh grade social studies at the Vernal Middle School. In a video highlighting her nomination on PBS Utah, it is clear that her learning experience starts with caring about the students first. Her desire to have students engage is splashed with warmth across her classroom, with pictures and items that get students to look around. Caren Burns, a fellow UEA Educator who nominated Marsha, states, “Marsha is the teacher that every kid needs and every kid deserves. She is like a ray of sunshine. She is so warm and welcoming and kind. And in the forefront of her mind is always ways that she can make her students feel loved and appreciated.” Marsha likes to have students change their perspective to help make history real. Her ability to care first allows the students to feel safe and thus engage in the fun learning experiences. “It’s like a party with a learning experience attached to it,” Caren adds. Marsha sums up why she is deserving of her nomination with her personal philosophy about the students when she says “they (the students) need someone that cares! Someone that’s not worried about how well they do on their work but cares that they’re there everyday and that they know that they matter.”
