Not every student may know Shannon Rose by name, but they probably recognize her by sight. Those who go to her classroom recognize her willingness to go above and beyond to ensure they succeed.
Her focus is on the students, and more than anything, she wants them to be successful.
Rose was named Duncan Public Schools 2023 Teacher of the Year during the ceremony on Tuesday. Earlier this year, Rose was named the teacher of the year for Duncan Middle School, which allowed her to be in the running for the district teacher of the year.
“When they announced the winner, I did not hear my name,” Rose said. “So I was looking down the rows trying to see who had won district teacher of the year, when another teacher told me that I had won. I was very shocked to hear that I had won because I thought that someone else was win.”
Each of the Duncan schools had a teacher of the year nominee for the district level. In all, eight teachers were up for Duncan’s top teaching honor. Those vying for district teacher of the year had to be selected by their home schools and had to film a video where they talked about their philosophy of education.
Rose is the seventh-grade resource teacher, who provides her students with help if they need it when it comes to completing or understanding the curriculum. She has about 40 students on her caseload this year.
In addition to be named school and district teacher of the year, Rose was also chosen as the teacher of the month for Duncan Public Schools in October.
Last year, Sonia Norton, a self-contained special education teacher at Duncan Middle School, was named the teacher of the year for Duncan Public Schools. Duncan Middle School currently has three district teacher of the year winners, including Rose, Norton and humanities teacher Cathy Barker.
Since she won district teacher of the year, Rose will file to be in the running for state teacher of the year.
“My philosophy for teaching is that we are more than just teachers,” Rose said. “We are cheerleaders for the students, and sometimes we are the school parents because some parents work many jobs just trying to provide for their kids. Not everyone is fortunate enough to get to be with their kids all of the time because everyone’s home life is different.”
