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FWCS Awards Two Teachers With Teacher of the Year

ELLA ABBOTT
/
WBOI
Fort Wayne Community Schools superintendent Mark Daniel gives seventh grade teacher Tia McFarthing her award in her classroom at Towels New Tech Middle School on Monday, May 17, 2021.

Fort Wayne Community Schools named two Teachers of the Year for 2021, one an elementary school teacher and one a secondary teacher.

A group of teachers and administrators, led by Fort Wayne Community Schools Superintendent Mark Daniel, entered Tia McFarthing’s seventh grade classroom Monday morning to present her with the award.

McFarthing, or Mrs. Mac to her students, has taught at Towles New Tech Middle School for eight years.

McFarthing said this year has been particularly hard for students and teachers, but she’s worked to make sure her remote students know that she’s there for them.

“And if they have something that they need, right?" She said. "Or if they just need a little grace or they’re having a hard time or someone is sick, that they can just come to me and tell me and I am like ‘I get it,’ right?, "McFarthing said. " This year has been really hard, we just all need to be really kind to each other.”

During her time at Towles, McFarthing has encouraged her students to look for ways to help others. She established a Writing Center at Towles, which functions as a tutoring center where students help each other learn and succeed.

 

McFarthing also teaches a unit on the Syrian refugee crisis, where students have the opportunity to donate supplies to a non-profit which sends them overseas to refugee camps.

Credit ELLA ABBOTT / WBOI
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WBOI
Fourth grade teacher Nikki Fultz accepts her award for Elementary Teacher of the Year in front of the student body at Waynedale Elementary School on Monday, May 17, 2021.

In the afternoon, Waynedale students gathered on the blacktop to receive ribbons for participating in a school race. But, afterwards, Daniel stepped onto the playground to present the 2021 Elementary Teacher of the Year award.

Nikki Fultz is a fourth grade teacher at Waynedale and as she stepped up to accept the award, her son, a student at the school, ran forward to hug her. 

Fultz has been a teacher at the school for 10 years and served as a remote teacher during the 2020-2021 school year, working with students attending school online and working to keep them motivated to learn.

She said it was a challenge, finding ways to keep students engaged and bringing new activities to them while learning virtually.

“So, I really was pushed as a teacher to try new things this year and it really made me expand what I’m able to do and I appreciate that,” she said.

Fultz focuses on community services in her classroom, helping students find ways to give back in their communities. She also takes students to university campuses, trade schools and local businesses to help establish paths open to them after high school. 

Ella Abbott is a multimedia reporter for 89.1 WBOI. She is a strong believer in the ways audio storytelling can engage an audience and create a sensory experience.
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