Three Teachers Named Finalists for MCPS Teacher of the Year Award

Sara Kopf is a first grade teacher at New Hampshire Estates Elementary School. She has been teaching first grade for 20 years in MCPS elementary schools, spending the entire time in highly impacted schools and predominantly teaching traditionally underserved students, many of whom grow up speaking a language other than English. During the 2018-2019 school year, the last year for which there is complete data, 15 of her 16 students made more than a year of reading progress.  Her class proudly publishes a newspaper, Kopf Kids News. In 2020, she co­-founded the Anti-Racist Educator Club to help teachers educate themselves and implement anti-racist education in their classrooms. Students love her because she is kind, fun and cares about them. She finds each student’s strengths to help them overcome their struggles, and teaches them to never give up. She creates opportunities for them to express their understanding through drawings, music and technology. When the school was searching for strategies to get kids to read more during virtual learning, Kopf sprung into action. She created a video showing students how to record themselves on RAZ Kids; held a staff professional learning session on getting kids to love virtual school; and enlisted her father to read to students in her virtual classroom. Kopf, who calls her students Kopf’s Kids, has continued to teach with joy and expertise despite running a temperature for more than 200 consecutive days due to COVID-19.