Striving for Excellence in Diverse Classrooms

Agnes Meyer Teaching Award Honors Two Who Build Students' Confidence

Michelle Ohanian teaches English in a Centreville classroom to more than a dozen students from nearly as many countries, ranging from Pakistan to El Salvador to Cameroon.

Many work full time, care for their families or have dropped out of other schools. Despite challenges, on a breezy spring morning last week, all were intent on improving their computer skills and their English, and finishing high school.

Many credit Ohanian for motivating them to work harder.

"Even though you have problems out there . . . [ in Ohanian's class] you want to come to class and want to learn," said Nestor Lopez, 18, a native of Peru, as class was ending.

This year, the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher award goes to Ohanian and to Jed D. Frei, a third-grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Falls Church.

Both teachers are known for turning reluctant students into enthusiastic scholars. Ohanian teaches English for speakers of other languages at Mountain View Alternative High School, a job she took in 2004, hoping to have more impact on students' lives, she said.

Frei, who has been teaching third grade at Jefferson since 2002, uses creative approaches and plenty of affirmation to encourage students to reach higher.

The award is given each year to 20 distinguished teachers in the metro area by The Washington Post Co. Educational Foundation. It comes with a $3,000 check and is named for Agnes Meyer, a public education champion and the wife of Eugene Meyer, the newspaper's publisher from 1933 to 1946.

The teachers will be honored this evening at The Washington Post's headquarters.

Ohanian, 41, has been teaching for more than a decade. She said she tries to understand more about her students' backgrounds before she decides on her teaching approach. Maybe they failed at another high school and "have constantly heard what they can't do," she said in an interview after her class, or maybe they have "not been in school for five years." She tries to find ways to build on their strengths and appeal to their states of mind. Otherwise, she said, "students will be lost."

When she finds successful teaching strategies, she is quick to share them with others. As a department chairman, she works closely with her colleagues to share research and ideas, and she travels around the country organizing workshops for teachers about writing instruction for students learning English.

Frei, 31, also tailors his teaching approach to student needs. In a thick packet of about 60 letters of recommendation, many parents said he had found ways to tap into their children's interests and encourage them to learn more.