Winning Teacher Gets Enthusiasm, Results

Award Honors Cool Spring Educator

Whether you're a student or a teacher in Prince George's County, chances are you'll want to sit in on Ronae Smith's fifth-grade class at Cool Spring Elementary School in Adelphi.

In either case, you could learn a lot. Smith is the county's winner of the Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award given by The Washington Post, which chooses one public school teacher in each district of the Washington area and one private school teacher for the region to win the award.

The winners were honored at a reception sponsored by The Post.

Smith's work had come to the attention of her peers and students long before she was recognized by The Post. A fellow reading specialist, Jenna Bishop, wrote that Smith's class was "a baseline of what a successful fifth grade classroom and teacher would look like, sound like and act like."

Her principal, Frances J. Tolbert, credited Smith with raising the percentage of students showing proficiency in reading or language arts from 58.5 percent to 70.3 percent: "She is a creative innovative thinker who is intelligent, dependable, poised and appreciates diversity," Tolbert wrote.

Then there are her students, who composed handwritten letters backing their teacher for the award.

"We're reading a book called 'Charlotte Doyle,' " Adriana Grant wrote. "Sometimes she acts out the parts and does cool voices. That gives the reading that dramatic, exciting effect. Mrs. Smith makes reading a book feel like being at the movies."

"I use to think school was boring, but now that I have Mrs. Smith, I look forward to coming to school everyday," wrote Angegabriel Sognonvi.

Smith, 34 and a mother of three, explained her success this way: "My students' desire to learn . . . begins with my enthusiasm for teaching. Learning is fun, and I want my students to see and understand the excitement of learning. If I am excited, it gets them excited."

It wasn't her first choice of vocation. Smith, a graduate of Taylor University in Indiana, worked with developmentally disabled adults and then with the parents of disabled children, as well. She enjoyed interacting with the youngsters, and a friend suggested she start teaching.

She began in 2000 as a long-term substitute at Scotchtown Hills Elementary School in Laurel. "It was probably the scariest and most frustrating time in my life," she said. "It was challenging, and I loved it. I felt I had found where I was supposed to be."

She has taught at Cool Spring since 2001, starting in a classroom with students from first through third grades. She switched to fifth grade the next year and hasn't looked back, steadily adding responsibilities as she has gained experience. Now she mentors new teachers, is studying for a master's degree and all the while has worked as an assistant manager at the Coho Grill restaurant in Columbia.

"A great classroom is messy. It's full of discussion. It's full of energy," Smith said. "At the end of the day, you're exhausted because you put in 110 percent. My kids know that I love them, and they love me, too. . . . They know that whatever happens, I'm going to be there for them."

Her work has paid off in loyalty from her students, one of whom wrote a poem extolling her virtues:

"Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Smith! You are the greatest teacher! I've ever had! You are nice, you are sweet! You are the . . . greatest teacher ever!!!!!"