Honoring Teachers Who Push Themselves, Students

On the face of it, Natalie Stephenson and Xu Duan, the Prince George's County teachers who won this year's Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher awards, don't have much in common.

Stephenson was raised in Brooklyn; Duan, in a frontier region of northeastern China. Duan teaches chemistry; Stephenson, language arts. Stephenson teaches at Kenmoor Middle, a public school; Duan, at Queen Anne School, which is private.

But the educators prove that excellence in teaching can come from any background. In letters from the administrators, colleagues, parents and students who nominated Stephenson and Duan for the annual award given by The Washington Post, both were praised for the dedication, enthusiasm and guidance they provide and the results they achieve in the classroom.

The Post chooses one public school teacher in each district of the Washington metropolitan area and one private school teacher for the entire region to win the $3,000 award.

Stephenson, 38, did not grow up wanting to teach, but a love affair with words brought her to that profession.

"I always loved to learn," she said. "That's number one. I'm a lifelong learner. Ever since I can remember, I loved history, and I loved English."

In high school, she realized she could make a living working with those subjects. After receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo, she came to Prince George's County, which she had picked for its diversity.

She started at Kenmoor Middle School in November 1992. She had expected a more gradual introduction to teaching, but administrators threw her straight into the action.

"They were like, 'You're hired, go to this school Kenmoor,' " Stephenson recalled. "Talk about throwing you in there. I walked through this school. I had no idea that I was replacing another teacher. I was starting almost mid-first quarter. The children had been in another setting, and I'm walking in fresh off the boat. I knew I was in the big leagues, and it took me a while to settle into it, to get comfortable."

She survived that first year and has worked at Kenmoor ever since.

"Y'all don't know what it is like to walk in a classroom, and people are waiting for instruction," she said. "You are the leader. You run the show, even when they're acting up."

Students don't have much cause to act up around Stephenson anymore, however. And if they did, she wouldn't put up with it: "I'm a hard person. I don't play," she said.