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Valerie Mantle Awarded $250 Classroom Start Up Grant
posted by: Cindy Omlin | April 03, 2018, 10:03 PM   

Congratulations to Ms. Valerie Mantel, arts and ceramics teacher at Idaho Arts Charter Academy in Nampa, ID.  Ms. Mantle has been awarded a $250 New Classroom Start Up Grant from Northwest Professional Educators to help set up a new ceramics studio at the school.

valerie mantle clipHer students keep her motivated to learn and to come to work each and every day.  “I am especially inspired by their love of creative discovery. It is what allows me to see the world through fresh eyes every day.”  It is this spirit, she says, that motivated her to expand her knowledge and expertise in ceramics and to build a comprehensive ceramics program at the school.

Ms. Mantel describes her biggest surprise as an educator the realization that she, like her students, must be a committed “lifelong learner.”  “As a 54 year old teacher with a masters degree, it would be easy for me to say that there is nothing more I need to learn. Yet my students inspire me to keep my curiosity alive, and to always look for new experiences. And surely the greatest satisfaction is in sharing these with my students. For example, in teaching ceramics, it is such a thrill to teach someone to use the potter’s wheel, and to watch the thrill on their faces when they master this intensely challenging skill for the first time.”

Ms. Mantel has been a member of NWPE for eight years.  She primarily joined NWPE for its “unbiased” liability insurance and legal services, but she appreciates the newsletters and updates on what’s happening in the educational community.  Choice is an important concept for her.  “I value the fact that I can choose NWPE, as well as which of NWPE’s services I want to use, and that the choice is not made for me.”

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