Rozet teacher named Teacher of the Year

By Kathy Brown
Gillette News Record
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
GILLETTE — Valerie Bruce knew something was up.
The 32-year-old teacher used the five senses she had her first-grade students employ in their pumpkin investigation Tuesday afternoon and by doing so, she almost ruined the surprise.
A pinky promise and two “flat-out lies” had led her to this point, standing with Rozet Elementary Principal Nate Cassidy outside the school gym and not willing to take a step into it.
That was where she used her investigative skill of looking. She spied a banner — held up by three of her former students — touting her as Wyoming Teacher of the Year in 2018-19.
This “felt” like a setup — another of the senses she wanted her students to use in their scientific investigation of pumpkins using their iPads. It “tasted” like a setup.
Yet she couldn’t hear any noise in the gym. That’s where her sense of “listening” didn’t fail her, but didn’t help either. You could have heard a pin drop at Rozet where nearly 300 students and teachers sat in the bleachers making no sound at all — despite a few quiet giggles — as they waited in anticipation for Mrs. Bruce to enter.
When she stepped into the gym — brought by a principal who told her one of her students was missing and he needed her help — the conspiracy was complete. So was the surprise.
Just about three weeks earlier, Bruce was lauded at a Campbell County school board meeting as the district’s teacher of the year.
Then she waited to hear if the Wyoming Department of Education would select her as teacher of the year among the nominations they received this school year. She already was a finalist for the state’s Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
And she was very pregnant — her doctor had expected her to deliver her second child, a girl, over the weekend. So she couldn’t wait long to hear her fate in the Teacher of the Year selections.
So the arrival of her parents from 10 hours away in Montana, and her husband, Josh Bruce, who held another bouquet of flowers in his hand for her for the second time in a month, was suspicious.
Even when he tried to make sure she wore something nice to school that day, saying the family and her parents — Delila and Brent Aman of Polson, Montana — were going to take their Christmas card photos that night after dinner together.
But this was a moment her parents couldn’t miss, even if it meant a long drive to reach Gillette and her school and a quick return home the next day.
They also came with an excuse. “It was very tough when she asked me why we came,” Delila admitted. She said something about wanting to be there for Valerie because she felt the need and “you needing your grandma’s rocking chair for the new baby.”
It didn’t quite fly, but the teacher couldn’t find a way to discover what was up.
“I knew something was going on,” she said to her husband and Cassidy, who were in on the conspiracy to keep the award a surprise. “All this stuff is making sense now.
“He’s a very good man,” she said of her husband. “You guys are so sneaky.”
She said that to the many students who hugged and congratulated her Tuesday, too. Through nine years teaching at Rozet, Cassidy said, she has impacted many lives in a positive way.
Valerie, her mom said, is very much like her grandmother, who taught for 42 years and had a talent in the classroom that Brent experienced first-hand as a former student.
“It can’t happen to a better person,” her mom said, dabbing tears from her eyes. “It was good to see her face. ... I’m so proud of her. Her grandma taught in a one-room school house. In her last years, she taught in Big Sandy, Montana.”
That was who inspired Bruce to become a schoolteacher, she said.
“Her grandmother was wonderful with kids,” Delila added. “She’s (Valerie) just like her.”
Mrs. Bruce cried a few tears, too, while watching a video students at Rozet put together for her. It included several of her first-graders.
“She is very deserving of this award,” Cassidy said.
It’s the second straight year a Campbell County teacher has been selected as the Wyoming Teacher of the Year. That’s remarkable, said Deputy Superintendent Kirby Eisenhauer.
“This is a very big deal,” he told the crowd. “Mrs. Bruce represents teachers who try to do their best every day. This is the second year that Campbell County has the Wyoming Teacher of the Year. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have it three years in a row.”
State Superintendent Jillian Balow was unable to make the award presentation, but sent a letter of congratulations that was read aloud by 2017-18 state teacher of the year Sara Reed, a kindergarten teacher at Hillcrest Elementary.
“I highly respect and admire your work,” her letter said, pointing to Bruce’s ability to create lifelong learners. “You have been on the leading edge” in teaching students for a world that doesn’t exist now.
“There’s no greater gift than to inspire others as well,” she added.
Bruce thanked the crowd, her students and fellow teachers. “I’m so glad I’m here,” she added.
When her voice failed, Bruce quietly voiced “thank you, thank you, thank you” as she wiped tears from her eyes.
“This is very exciting,” she said later. “It’s super exciting,” adding she’s looking forward to talking about best practices for teachers as she travels throughout Wyoming.
It means so much more knowing she was nominated by a parent who had a little boy in her class. In fact, Bruce admitted, she enjoyed reflecting and answering the questions for her nomination as teacher of the year.
“It was very special,” Bruce said of seeing the three kids holding up the banner, three of her former first-graders. “The tall boy in the middle was in the video and said I was ‘the nicest teacher I’ve ever had,’” Bruce marveled. “This was very special and very good. ... I’m just so excited.”
Tuesday may have been the last day of school for Bruce before her maternity leave. But she can’t wait to get back to work in the classroom.