Md. Teacher Basks in National Spotlight

Top Instructor Finalist From Silver Spring Is State's First Since 1992

Kindergarten teacher Kimberly Oliver, Maryland's top teacher of 2005, is among four finalists for the national award. (By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)

To her peers, Kimberly Oliver is Montgomery County's 2005 Teacher of the Year. She's also Maryland's 2005 Teacher of the Year. And it's just possible that come tomorrow, she could be the 2006 National Teacher of the Year.

But to the mostly 5-year-old students in her class at Broad Acres Elementary School, she is just Ms. Oliver, kindergarten teacher, occasional nurse, frequent comforter, sometimes mother.

They treat her as such. They demand her attention. They share stories of what they did over the weekend -- some that seemingly take that long to recount. And sometimes they don't listen when she tells them to.

But there are a lot of big people who do want to listen to Oliver, 29. They want to learn about her teaching philosophy. They want to know her secrets. They want to know how they can be more like her.

As one of four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year award to be announced by President Bush in a Rose Garden ceremony, it's possible that even more people will want information about the educator, who graduated from Hampton University and received her master's degree in elementary education from Wilmington College in Delaware.

Last month, she spent three days interviewing with 14 judges responsible for making the final selection. They asked her about herself, her students and why she likes her job.

"The best part is just getting to work with children -- helping them develop academically and socially," she said.

Oliver began teaching in 2000 at the Silver Spring campus, which she picked because it served a population of students -- mostly poor and minority -- that she felt passionate about reaching. She is certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, which means she has taken extra steps to prove she has mastered her profession, and she has mentored 10 of her colleagues. In a sense, she's as much a teacher's teacher as she is children's teacher.

So it seems more than a bit ironic that if she becomes National Teacher of the Year, she'll spend an entire year not teaching.

"It's an honor that comes with the responsibility of having to represent all of America's teachers at well over 150 events throughout the year," program spokesman Jon Quam explained. "It's a full-time position. Instead of being in her classroom, the national teacher would have the world as her classroom."

As the state's teacher of the year, she has gotten a small sampling of what life could be like should she win the national award: visits to various schools, conferences, receptions and dinners.

Oliver's competition includes a fifth-grade teacher from Florida, a community service teacher from Kansas and a language arts teacher at an alternative high school in Washington state. If she should win, she would be the second Washington area educator in a row to capture the honor. Last year's winner, Jason Kamras, is a math teacher at John Philip Sousa Middle School in the District.

Win or lose, Maryland folks are excited because Oliver is the first teacher from the state to reach the national competition since 1992.

"I feel very honored," Oliver said. "Just being Montgomery County Teacher of the Year was an amazing accomplishment."

As Maryland Teacher of the Year, she won a hybrid car, $5,000 in cash and various items to make her teaching life easier. She also won a big silver bowl that sits in an undisclosed location at her home. She can keep the car, but the bowl she'll have to return so next year's winner can enjoy it.

She still spends time working with students at Broad Acres but no longer has her own class. A teacher intern has taken over most of her duties so Oliver can travel and attend to her new duties -- all part of being nominated for the national award.

"It's been a learning experience," she said.