Sixty-three hours from Evanston by car, Jennifer Neff — a high school math teacher in South Anchorage, Alaska — remains on the mind of her former student, Weinberg senior and cross country standout Ava Earl, as she prepares to graduate this weekend.
Neff is one of four recipients of the Morton Schapiro Distinguished Secondary School Teacher Awards, an annual tradition where Northwestern seniors nominate their teachers to be recognized at commencement.
“You teach students and you only get them for a year,” Neff said. “Sometimes you know that you’ve reached students in the moment and other times you don’t — but you rarely get to find out how the story went.”
The award, named after former University President Morton Schapiro, was created to honor teachers who shaped students’ lives long before they donned purple caps and gowns.
Each year, recipients earn a $5,000 stipend for themselves and an additional $5,000 for their schools.
“A great education begins long before a student’s first day of college,” University President Michael Schill said in the May news release announcing the winners.
For some of this year’s award winners, hearing about their nomination prompted reflections on their own career trajectory.
Born and raised in Alaska, Neff has taught math for over two decades. As a child, it took her just a few years in a classroom to realize that she wanted to spend the rest of her life there.
By first grade, she said, she knew she wanted to be a teacher. By middle school, she settled on teaching math — the same subject her father taught for 35 years.
Meanwhile, it took Julie Stoffel, another Schapiro award winner who teaches music in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, a little longer to discern her passion for educating.
As she managed health issues as a child, Stoffel initially thought she wanted to be a doctor or nurse. But unlike Neff, who found her life’s work in equations and numbers, Stoffel said “the whole math piece” of health professions scared her off.
“One day, I was running the mile in gym class, singing my heart out, and my teacher said, ‘Julie, why don’t you go into singing or music? You’re always singing,’” Stoffel said.
From there, Stoffel took inspiration from her piano teacher and high school play director. Throughout her 32-year career, Stoffel has taught both middle and high school students at various Wisconsin schools.
Stoffel and Neff may teach different subjects, but their classroom philosophies are one and the same: Always put the students first.
Back in Anchorage, Neff adopted an unusual technique in her classroom, something she learned as she continues to perfect her craft by reading up on the latest education developments.
In a colorful classroom where vertical whiteboards dot the walls and baskets of art supplies are scattered about, Neff instructs her students to solve problems that require concepts they haven’t learned yet. The goal is to prompt discussion and encourage students to use the skills they already have to work around the things they don’t know.
“I’m teaching you derivatives, but I’m not teaching you how to do derivatives in the real world,” Neff said. “I’m teaching you to develop the side of your brain that can handle when things get hard.”
Both Neff and Stoffel agreed that the key to effective teaching is to create a space where students feel comfortable making mistakes and asking for help.
Stoffel said that as a teacher of the arts, her Wisconsin classroom is a space where students come not only to learn, but to achieve a sense of belonging.
“What we’re teaching is so much bigger than just getting problems one through 20 correct,” Stoffel said. “It’s teaching how to be a human being and how to see the world through a broader lens.”
In addition to Neff and Stoffel, Stephanie Hill — a French teacher from Kalispell, Montana — and Rita Thompson — a retired English teacher from Elk Grove, Illinois — will also be honored as Schapiro Award winners at NU’s Sunday commencement, but were unable to be reached at the time of publication.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Julie Stoffel’s last name. The Daily regrets the error.
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