Teacher of the Year: 'We affect the future'

April 8, 2005

"I am proud to be a teacher in New York state. We do an important job and we affect the future," said Elizabeth Day, New York State Teacher of the Year, to a standing ovation at the RA's opening session Thursday night.

Today, she teaches alongside several colleagues in Mechanicville School District who used to be her students.

"We indeed have been inspired by excellent teachers, and we have inspired others to be teachers," said Day, a member of the Mechanicville Teachers Association. "I'm extremely proud to be a colleague of those who say 'I'm a teacher.'"

Her strongest message about teaching comes down to one word: passion. "Your heart has to be in it," she said.

While many people live by the mantra "one day at a time," Day's foundation is "one child at a time."

Many people would be nervous about giving a speech in front of several thousand people, particularly on opening night of a large convention. But Day has been standing in front of classrooms for nearly three decades. With about 20 students a class and five classes a day, that's 100 students a day, times 180 teaching days, equals 1,800 students a year. Multiply that by 27 and you have an audience of 48,600.

So, addressing the RA was no problem.

Day knows how to do the math: She teaches math, two blocks of science, reading and English Language Arts. She celebrates being Teacher of the Year representing New York's middle schools in a small, rural school in Saratoga County. She is very involved in her community and has her students create and stage performances twice a year for a local nursing home and for fellow students.

Outside the classroom, Day works with her TA on community projects and raising awareness about the local union. She also joined her union in picketing when Mechanicville went nearly six years without a contract.