| Lisa Behling |
Lisa Behling, a first grade teacher at Ferron Elementary, has been selected as the Teacher of the Year for the Emery School District.
At the regularly scheduled school board meeting on June 17, Mrs. Behling was recognized by school board president, Laural Johansen, Superintendent Kirk Sitterud and the other members of the school board. With her selection, she may choose to participate in the Utah State Teacher of the Year recognition program.
Mrs. Behling began teaching at Ferron Elementary since1985 as a first and second grade teacher. With the retirement of former first grade teacher, Barbara Behling, Lisa became known as the “other Mrs. Behling”. She has been teaching first grade at Ferron Elementary for the past 18 years.
“Next to my family, teaching first grade is my first love,” Lisa confessed. She has taught nieces and nephews, and children of friends as well as her own three children. She is now beginning to teach the children of students she taught in first grade and hopes their parents remember her as fondly as she does them.
“With the exception of my four years away at college, I have lived in Ferron all my life. I started school at Ferron Elementary when I was five. I learned, played, and grew up in the halls of this familiar building,” she recounted.
Throughout the past 18 years Lisa has pursued her own professional growth by attending classes in quality instructional practices, reading instruction, classroom management, mentor teaching and the Collaborative Literacy Intervention Project.
“These classes have improved my skills and helped me understand the academic and emotional development of children,” she said. “When I began teaching, most of my children came from traditional families who, although not wealthy by worldly standards, were stable and secure. Today many of my children come from single parent families and have moved sometimes three or four times by first grade. These children need more than academic instruction. They need support and skills to deal with problems that once existed only for adults.”
Jed Jensen, principal of Ferron Elementary, said, “Lisa is an outstanding educator with a strong commitment to personal growth as well as growth of students. Her upbeat personality and willingness to take extra assignments help make Ferron Elementary a great place to learn and work.”
Lisa uses strong instructional skills obtained through continual in-service and commitment to preparation and personal growth to make material meaningful and motivational for children.
She has learned and applied much of the instructional information provided by the state and district to explore and incorporate research based instructional methods in her classroom.
Lisa is known as a nurturing teacher with a high degree of instructional ability. She has a unique talent for recognizing and encouraging children as well as adults.
Lisa works exceptionally well with coworkers, parents and children.
Lisa is married to Loran Behling. They have three children, Chase, Whitney and Taylor.