Utah Earth Science Teacher Of The Year Award - Mr. Wright

Congratulations to our very own Mr. Wright! Kirk Wright was recognized for earning the 2016 Utah Earth Science Teacher Of The Year Award from the National Association of Geoscience Teachers (NAGT). 

A little about Mr. Wright:

I am married with four children and one grandchild.  My wife Jolynn and I are both teachers and have dedicated our lives to the education of children.  She has taught for almost nineteen years and I am starting into my twelfth year and am as excited as I have ever been with some new changes at our school that involve the incorporation of a ¨discovery¨ class and hands on, project based learning that we will be trying out for the first time school wide.  I am involved in science fair, underwater robotics and chess club at my school and we have been blessed to have students who have won awards in all three of these activities over the years.  We hope to start participating in the science olympiad this year as part of the discovery class model we are introducing at our school.  My philosophy of teaching involves connecting to our students passions that each have in their life.  I believe when a teacher can connect to that unique, burning passion that all individuals have, that learning takes on a life of its own.  To this end I believe it is my responsibility to develop a depth and breadth of knowledge in not only science, but in as many subjects as possible to be able to spark that passion within a student or connect with that passion that is already there. I have completed degrees at BYU and Mississippi State and have continued taking classes at UVU in pursuit of broadening my knowledge base.  In addition I believe that helping a student build up and value their imagination while realizing the importance of structure and boundaries found in life, are also key to helping them realize their passions.  In the end I believe in giving our students as many opportunities to connect their individual passions to concrete projects and activities that can produce tangible results that build their self esteem and self confidence.  To this end we had two students last year take a project all the way to ISWEEP in Houston, Texas and win a bronze medal (Dallas Jensen and Hayden Heaton).  It was amazing to witness their creativity, brilliance, and hard work and to realize that all of our students can do hard things and realize their awesome potentials if given an opportunity.  I am grateful for the wonderful opportunity to be a teacher and would choose nothing else.  I am eternally grateful for the opportunities education have given to me and hope to spend the remainder of my life helping others to value education and see the how it truly can change ones life and others for the better.  

http://nagt.org/nagt/awards/oest/2016.html (Scroll down towards the bottom to find him!)