Excellent Educators is a WAVY-TV 10 initiative to celebrate local teachers who have gone above and beyond for their students and communities during the coronavirus pandemic. These Excellent Educators were nominated by their school divisions. Congratulations to these educators for all of their hard work and accomplishments!
Name: Carolyn Harris
Division: Newport News Public Schools
Position: First grade teacher at Carver Elementary School
What the school division said about this Excellent Educator: Carolyn Harris is a 28-year veteran teacher. She teaches first grade at Carver Elementary School where she is a champion for writing instruction in primary grades. Several of her students have won honors in the WHRO Writers contest, with the most recent being Grayson Zimmerman, who was honored as the top winner for first grade.
During this period of virtual learning, Harris has found innovative ways to keep her students excited about reading and writing. Her students enjoyed a virtual visit with the WHRO STEM Van, and she has hosted several virtual visits from children’s book authors who gave her class an exclusive look at their work and talked about writing, research, reading techniques, and the books they create. One visiting author, Erin Dealey, unboxed the first copies of “Dear Earth…From Your Friends in Room 5” and shared the book with Ms. Harris class.
Harris reported that her students have adapted well to a virtual learning environment. She said, “I have to do all I can to instill a love of learning no matter the distance.” She is inspired by George Washington Carver, who said, “Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”
