Raelynn Kershner, Ballard R-II
Rural Secondary Teacher
Launch the media gallery 1 playerOutstanding Rural Secondary Teacher
Raelynn Kershner
Ballard R-II School District
Raelynn Kershner has been educating young people for the last twenty-three years in the Ballard R-II High School. Mrs. Kershner’s teaching experiences have been focused in the subject area of Mathematics making her program one of the top in the state. With Raelynn’s leadership, the Ballard students have done consistently well at Math competitions. More importantly, they do very well on State Assessments.
Mrs. Kershner is described as one that is an extremely knowledgeable teacher who brings a great deal of enthusiasm to her students. She has a great passion of the subject matter and works to instill the same feelings in her students. She presents the material in a manner that engages the students’ interest so they have a greater understanding of mathematic concepts. Mrs. Kershner has shown a great deal of flexibility and adaptability, working with students at all levels and dealing with a wide range of skill levels, motivation levels and personalities. Raelynn is the kind of instructor that puts in countless hours of unpaid tutoring to make sure that the students are successful in the area of Mathematics.
In her 23 years at Ballard, she has taught Computer knowledge as well as Mathematics. Currentlyy her teaching schedule includes Dual Credit College Algebra, Algebra I, Pre-Algebra, 7th Grade Math, Geometry, and Calculus. In recent years she has also taught Computer Math. While teaching these classes, Mrs. Kershner is also transitioning from letter grades to standards based grading. She stays on top of her curriculum, as her students always perform well on State Assessments.
In addition to spending a tremendous amount of time tutoring after school, giving much needed one on one attention to struggling student’s, Raelynn also serves as a mentor for many of her colleagues. Her attention to detail and fluency with technology provides an invaluable service to the district. Other instructors utilize her expertise on a regular basis to help with minor and major technology issues that could potentially hurt the operation of a small school with no on-site tech team.
An educator who believes in setting the bar high with attainable, yet challenging goals, not being afraid of change and making all those around her better, makes it appropriate to congratulate Raelynn Kershner as Missouri’s Outstanding Rural Secondary Teacher for 2013.