National Teacher of the Year Honored at White House; Began Career in Deaf Education

Yesterday, Michelle Shearer – a former chemistry and math teacher at the Maryland School for the Deaf -- was named the National Teacher of the Year during a ceremony in the rose garden at the White House.   CEC was proud to be on hand for this annual event during which President Obama complimented Ms. Shearer for her dedication to students. 

“At the Maryland School for the Deaf, Michelle taught AP chemistry for the first time in the school’s 135-year history, explaining concepts like kinetics and electrochemistry using only her hands.  When she suggested her students also sign up for AP calculus, she was met with some questioning looks.  “Why?” one student asked.  And she said, “Because you can,” she signed back.  And for the next two years, she spent her planning period teaching calculus, probability, and statistics to students who never would have had the opportunity to take those classes otherwise,” explained President Obama.

While Ms. Shearer began her career has a volunteer working with students who are hearing impaired, and continued this work at the Maryland School for the Deaf, she now teaches AP chemistry at Urbana High School in Maryland where she has seen a dramatic increase in the number of students enrolled in her class since she moved to Urbana in 2006. 

In accepting the award, Ms. Shearer stated, “I am humbled to accept this honor.  And as we celebrate the success we’ve achieved in our classrooms, I see the faces of students -- my 90 Advanced Placement chemistry students who took their AP exam yesterday.  Students I taught over a decade ago who now teach with me in the public schools.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and students with special needs who taught me always to see abilities, not disabilities.  And students, like my 5-year-old daughter, young children full of promise and potential.”

CEC congratulates Ms. Shearer on becoming the National Teacher of the Year and thanks her for her dedication and commitment to educating all students.  

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