2007 Outstanding Rural Elementary Teacher
Karen Fowler
Launch the media gallery 1 playerKaren Fowler, a teacher of many subjects and grade levels, but most importantly many students; has seen a career in the education field, which spans 35 years. Her entire teaching career has been at the elementary level and has been in the Pettis County R-V School District where she taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. In fact her teaching legacy spans two and three generations of family members living in rural Missouri attending Northwest Elementary in Houstonia.
Karen has been a mentor, a sounding board, a source of ideas and strategies, and an inspiration to her fellow teachers at Northwest. Her wealth of experience and sense of humor helps bring encouragement to any situation. Karen's calm manner and ability to remain level headed has made her a natural for helping take control of various situations that may arise during a school day. It has always been her desire to arm the children she teaches with the skills necessary to be successful in their lives, both academically and personally.
Mrs. Fowler's teaching never became stale. She constantly looked for ways for children to learn. Karen along with three other teachers helped write and organize a school-wide Lewis and Clark grant a few years ago. One of her many talents is the uses of technology in her classroom. About eight years ago, the school district was fortunate to be able to go through the eMINTS program. Although Karen had been teaching for 25 years and computers were scarce in the school, she jumped in feet first and found that using computers in her classroom helped students learn and this opened a window of opportunities. She continues to make use of the technology and pushes her students to reach for the stars.
Karen's devotion to her profession and life-long learning is made evident by her active involvement in the local Community Teacher's Association, the Parent Teacher Organization, and the Missouri State Teacher's Association. She has helped prepare students for the annual Kaysinger Conference Math and Spelling Bee for as long as anyone can remember. Karen has also been a great promoter of the state reading award initiative for her students, encouraging them to read as much as they can in order to be fully involved in the program making her students among the most eager readers in school.
Theme-based learning, integration of technology, student exploration and research. All of these opportunities exist, and MORE making it appropriate that we congratulate Karen Fowler as Missouri's Outstanding Rural Elementary Teacher for 2007.