Mr. McGuigan is Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year!

Matt and I are so proud of Jim. This is the article in the Smyrna Sun-Times Fri Nov 14, 2008.

The Smyrna School District received another honor in October, when Wal-Mart named Jim McGuigan Teacher of the Year. Jim McGuigan, a fifth grade teacher at John Bassett Moore (JBM) Intermediate School, started his teaching career in 2001 at North Elementary School. McGuigan was named North Elementary’s Teacher of the Year in 2002, an honor from the school district for which the school staff selects the teacher. The Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year award is a local award that has been presented to deserving teachers since 1995. Parents fill out nomination forms to nominate teachers then Wal-Mart calls the principal of the school where the teacher works to confirm that the teacher is a good candidate. Nationwide Wal-Mart has contributed $29 million to schools directly. They give a $1000 grant to the school of the winning teacher to do what they need. John Bassett Moore Intermediate School is putting the money into the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). The teacher gets $100 for class supplies or whatever resources are needed for the classroom. Parents fill out an anonymous form, writing the teacher’s name, reason for nominating the teacher, and the school where the teacher works. The parents look at how fun the learning environment is and what the teacher has done for the school community. There are usually approximately 25 nominees. McGuigan thinks fun and learning go hand-in-hand and encouragement is essential. “I want them to be learning in a positive atmosphere,” he said. “If a parent tells me, ‘My child really likes it here,’ that made my whole day because they’re happy.” Jackie Batts, the Community Coordinator for the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Smyrna, said there were many nominations for Jim McGuigan and he is a well deserving recipient. “They [the students] participate in his class,” Batts said. “He takes a hands-on approach. He’s developing them into being mature adults by giving them responsibility. He went beyond what he had to do.” McGuigan said it was very generous of Wal-Mart to give money to JBM as a whole. “For them to give $1000 to JBM on my behalf, that was a great, great feeling,” he said. More than the financial significance, though, McGuigan said the award is very meaningful to him personally. “I was nominated by parents and that was the greatest gift,” he said. “When you have kids who are happy in the classroom you have parents who are happy. For parents to reach out and say ‘great job,’ it really means the world to me. My kids are thrilled too. Being taught by teacher of the year is a big deal. It’s because of them that we do what we do. I’m honored that my parents thought enough to do this.” McGuigan said he loves waking up every morning and going to a job he loves. “Next to my son, teaching is the most important thing to me, my students especially,” he said. “I love every moment of it. I look forward to coming in every day. There’s never I day I wake up and say I don’t feel like working today.” McGuigan said he tries to make the classroom a fun and comfortable learning setting. “When the kids come home they don’t have horror stories about their day,” McGuigan said. “It really makes for happy parents. I don’t want my kids to look back and say, ‘I hated fifth grade.’ The most important thing is learning in a safe and fun environment doing things at their own pace.” If teachers lecture the entire class time instead of finding activities to do, the kids may not absorb the information as well, he said. “I know what this kid needs; I have an idea how to get in this kid’s head,” he said. “That’s what I love about being self contained. We have all day. We do all the subjects every day, and I won’t stop until all my kids get it.” JBM Intermediate School Principal Derek Prillaman said McGuigan was a deserving candidate for the award. “Jim’s a great teacher,” Prillaman said. “It’s hard to mask all of the good work he does. The parents and the kids see it. We’re very blessed to have him.” “To me the main thing is the kids,” McGuigan said. “Academics come second simply because if the kids aren’t happy the academics don’t matter. Motivating the kids and loving them, making sure they know that they can trust me, and that they’re safe is important.” McGuigan said the important thing is that the kids know they can trust him and know that they work as a team in the classroom. “We have a community in here,” McGuigan said. “When we have a problem we handle it as a community. We take care of it right here together. I want to make sure they’re happy and they’re safe because when kids are happy they’ll move a mountain for you and you won’t even realize they’re working.”