Andrea Peterson, 2007 National Teacher of the Year

Please visit the Department of Education website to view a video clip of U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings’ interview with Andrea Peterson, a music teacher at Monte Cristo Elementary School in Granite Falls, Washington and the 2007 National Teacher of the Year. Ms. Peterson, who was the keynote speaker for the Opening Session of the Texas Fine Arts Summit IX, comments on the role of music and arts as related to the “No Child Left Behind” Act and preparation for the 21st century workplace, as well as on students striving for excellence and support new teachers need to succeed.

The National Teacher of the Year is chosen from among the State Teachers of the Year. The finalists are selected by a committee of representatives from fifteen national education organizations. The National Teacher of the Year program is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers and is sponsored by the ING Foundation. The program focuses public attention on teaching excellence and is the oldest and most prestigious award program for teachers.

Known for her passion, dedication, and commitment to seeing all students succeed, Andrea Peterson was also the state of Washington’s first National Board Certified Teacher in early and middle school music. She has earned a reputation for her unique teaching style and creativity. According to Ms. Peterson’s students and colleagues, the development of interpretive musicals is one of her most popular class projects. Students are tasked with producing a play based on literature they have read in other academic classes. Upon completion of the production, students perform the play for the community.

Ms. Peterson built the Granite Falls school district’s music program from eighteen recorders and an empty classroom into a vibrant part of the district’s curriculum. She plays almost every instrument in the orchestra and also sings, composes music, and writes lyrics for her students on subjects as diverse as ocean ecology and Shakespeare. Ms. Peterson has written musicals about topics from the U.S. Constitution and the explorations of Lewis and Clark to literary works such as “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Ms. Peterson works collaboratively with classroom teachers to complement and reinforce their lessons. She is passionate about cross-curricular instruction through the arts, which is the reason that she is very excited about speaking at the Fine Arts Summit. As you are aware, the theme of the 2008 Fine Arts Summit is TAK=S4: Through the Arts Knowledge becomes Success. This year’s Summit will be the fourth and final year of a four year cycle of supporting implementation of Senate Bill 815 and subsequent revisions to Chapter 74 of the Texas Administrative Code that mandate instruction based upon the Fine Arts Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), particularly as related to how fine arts instruction enhances student achievement on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). After the four year Summit cycle, the four fine arts content areas of art, dance, music, and theatre will have been paired with each of the four foundation content areas of English Language Arts/Reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. This year’s content area pairings are art/english language arts, dance/mathematics, music/science, and theatre/social studies.