Camille Jones, an elementary-school teacher from Quincy, Grant County, was named the 2017 Washington state Teacher of the Year in a ceremony Monday at the EMP Museum in Seattle.
She is the first winner since 2015 from outside the Puget Sound area. Two years ago, Seattle teacher Lyon Terry won the honor, and last year, it was Nathan Bowling, a high-school teacher from Tacoma.
Jones, 29, doesn’t teach a particular grade at Pioneer Elementary in Quincy, where she spent her childhood on a farm. Instead, she works with students in the school’s STEAM Lab, where she offers activities in science, technology, engineering, art and math.
She’s credited with teaching to think both locally and globally, and for working with her community.
When her district put a bond measure on the ballot in 2014, for example, she met with farmers and young couples who didn’t have children to explain why the schools needed the money. The measure passed with 64 percent of the vote.
She also worked on a project where her school created a “Big Friendly Monster” that was displayed in 40 participating schools in seven countries. Each school described a body part for the monster, which the students then put together with colorful paper, paint and yarn.
During her acceptance speech, Jones stressed the importance of community and family, and noted that her husband, brother and father came to the ceremony, even though they’re farmers in the middle of the harvest.
Jones was selected by a state committee based on interviews and a written application. The criteria include community involvement as well as teaching accomplishments, ability to analyze an education issue and a commitment to strengthening the teaching profession. Nominees also must write a proposed platform, outlining what their message as teacher-of-the-year would be.
The selection committee includes past state teachers-of-the-year, and representatives from the Washington Education Association, the Professional Educator Standards Board, the Washington Association of School Administrators, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Washington State Legislative Youth Advisory Council.
As the winner, Jones now is a contender for the national teacher-of-the-year competition.
