Tina Schmidt was awarded the 2023 Zemsky Teacher of the Year Award! She was nominated by many of her students and selected amongst the 46 nominees as the winner. Our student government completes this selection process by viewing all submissions without any indicators of name, gender identity, or department.
Here are few things Tina‘s students had to sY about her excellence as a teacher:
“Mrs. Schmidt is always pushing us to become better young adults. She gives the best advice and is our number 1 supporter. She cares about our education and always pushes us.”
“Mrs. Schmidt deserves this award because of the time she takes to learn about each of her students as people and not just students. She takes time to get to know us personally by learning about what we are involved in and what we enjoy doing outside of school. She understands that we are human, that we are busy, and that we make mistakes. However, she believes it is important to push us to work hard in school each day to reach our full potential. I look forward to going to her class each day because of the community environment she has built in the room. Everyone in the class is able to work together with ease, and it is a very supportive learning environment.”
“Mrs. Schmidt goes beyond simply teaching students, she is truly an incredible being. Mrs. Schmidt assures her students understand the
material through supporting every single step of our learning process. She encourages going to see her outside of class for extra support, understanding the importance of independence, and makes sure we feel supported either way. Mrs. Schmidt celebrates all of the accomplishments of our classmates (academic achievements, sports recognitions) – she is our biggest supporter. You can feel like love she has, not only her profession, but even more for her students. She highlights our hard work as individuals, leading us to feeling uplifted for being recognized. She has created an environment for her students to thrive and engage, simply with her persona as a human. She encourages mistakes as our way to learn from each other and grow together. She is amazing at what she does and continues to maintain such a great connection with each and every one of her students. I am genuinely so blessed to have come across such a phenomenal teacher as Mrs. Schmidt unconditionally is. “
When we surprised Tina during one of her classes today her students cheered and even embraced her in a hug, it is clear that she is having a huge impact in her classroom! Tina will be formally recognized during the Accolades ceremony on May 17th, but please take a moment to congratulate her if you see her!