2014 - Washington State Teacher of the Year - Katie Brown

Katie has taught at Shuksan for the past 11 years and two years ago she transitioned into her current role as the ELL Specialist. Teaching came as a bit of a surprise to Katie. She realized that she wanted to be a teacher after several different a-ha moments: volunteering at a high poverty school in college, playing soccer with kids during a Costa Rica study abroad and while listening to tribal elders teach young people about their history as an AmeriCorps volunteer.



As the ELL Specialist Katie has implemented a series of very successful ELL family nights where families once hidden in shadows can build community – even across many different languages. In two short years, she has built a program that is admired and respected across her district.



Katie has devoted herself to helping her colleagues learn the practice of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol and cheering them on daily. She is quick to call out colleagues’ success, and her praise builds confidence and morale. As a result the percent of ELL students passing the Reading MSP is up 20 points in just one year.



But it’s those individual relationships with students that still stand out. “Every day I go to her classroom for help explaining the things I am learning in other classes,” says student Jose Mejia. “This year I wrote a graphic novel and she helped me understand how to create a story in my head . . . Mrs. Brown motivates us to achieve our goals in school and in life. She does not tell me I can’t do it. She always tells me not to give up.”