By A Treasure Coast essay by Paul Janensch
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wqcs/local-wqcs-913439.mp3
Fort Pierce, FL – Congratulations to the Treasure Coast's own Cheryl Conley for being named Florida's Teacher of the Year. She teaches fourth grade at Osceola Magnet Elementary School in Indian River County. The honor was bestowed on her by the state Department of Education in a program financially supported by Macy's. She was selected from more than 180,000 public school teachers statewide. Cheryl Conley brings an extraordinary enthusiasm to the classroom. She has even dressed up as a pirate and as Albert Einstein to dramatize a lesson. Conley has taught fourth grade at Osceola for three years and is the school's science coordinator. For the next school year, she will travel around Florida as the Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education, named for the high-school teacher turned astronaut who was killed in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center. Conley will promote math and science, especially for girls. She and her husband Brett have two children of their own - Matthew 9 and Brooke 6. In a video made for the awards ceremony in Orlando, Conley says: "I think every student can learn That's what keeps me going." Cheryl Conley's students are lucky to have a teacher with such passion. For 88.9 FM this is Paul Janensch.
Treasure Coast essayist Paul Janensch was a newspaper editor and taught journalism at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.