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: Kimberly Moorefield and Jenna Lazarides
Division: Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Position: Science teacher and English teacher at Plaza Middle School
What the school division said about this Excellent Educator: Plaza Middle School teachers Kim Moorefield and Jenna Lazardies collaborated during the coronavirus pandemic to engage their students in science and English. Their students created podcasts by combining their English subject — dystopian literature — with their science unit on environmental concerns. NPR sponsored the student podcast challenge.
Moorefield started her teaching career at Virginia Beach City Public Schools in 1995 and has worked at Plaza Middle School the last six years. She encourages her students to ask questions and voice their opinions, and she engages their thinking to a higher level. As the year moves forward, anyone can see that Moorefield develops a great rapport with her students, and her classroom is built around respect and, as the students say, “fun.”
Lazarides teaches eighth grade at Plaza Middle School. She has been teaching since 2012 and at Plaza Middle School since 2017. By creating units that focus on inquiry and exploration of global issues, her students navigate the world. She focuses on giving students choice in what they learn, how they learn, and how they apply what they have learned. Students continue to work within their communities in and out of the classroom through authentic opportunities to explore topics such as social justice, conquering challenges, and the future in which they want to live.