teacher of the year

The award "Teacher of the Year" gets tossed around a lot this time of year, and with good cause.  After all, the teachers of today are the evil masterminds of tomorrow.  We best be giving them plenty of cheap praise to inflate their delicate sense of self worth.  If we don't bury them in awards, they may wise up to the fact that they haven't been given a raise since 1974.

When I created Pam, the retired schoolteacher javelina, I knew immediately that she was a bitter chain smoker.  But I also knew she never lost her dream of writing a bestselling murder mystery series.  

Teachers may seem tough on the outside, they may seem world weary and gruff, but on the inside they are probably the most optimistic people in the world.  After a lifetime of seeing the laziest children doze through their classes, they never gave up.  Why?  Because there was bound to be that special student that made a career worth it.

And that is why today, Falling Rock National Blog is proud to announce the 2010 Teacher of the Year Award goes to Mr. Jim McAllister of Carver High School.

Mr. McAllister, played by Matthew Broderick in the film Election based upon the novel of the same name  written by Tom Perrotta, is a hardworking teacher who ultimately gets fired for ballot fraud.  (Trust me, if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, that won't spoil the story for you.)

Mr. McAllister does what he feels is right, and for that he deserves Falling Rock's Teacher of the Year Award.  Congratulations Jim, wherever you are.