IRVINGTON — This week’s Orthopaedic Center of Southern Illinois MVT–Most Valuable Teacher Award–goes to Mrs. Beth Ballantini, the first and second grade teacher at Irvington Grade School.
Ballantini is in her 18th year as a teacher, but this year is far different than the previous 17. She believes there are a couple of constants that help make her school successful.
“We have a good group of people that work here,” Ballantini said. “The support of our staff makes it tremendously easier. Our parent partners have been really great working with us too. They go with the flow with us. If we have changes happening, they understand, and they just go with it with us.”
Teaching during a pandemic has presented many challenges. Ballantini’s class can no longer work in groups or share learning tools, but that hasn’t been the biggest obstacle.
“The hardest thing is not seeing the kids’ faces, their expressions, or for them to see my expression,” Ballantini said. “I teach first and second grade, so we have phonics. They can’t see what my mouth is doing. I can’t see what theirs is doing, so that’s been hard to help them with those sounds.”
Ballantini’s kids had already learned and was using Google Classroom before COVID hit. That, combined with having Chromebooks available for the kids to take home and use, made their two week full remote session earlier this school year much easier to get through.
In her nomination, Destiny Donoho told us about Ballantini’s extra efforts. “I have never seen a teacher care as much for children and them succeeding as Beth does,” Donoho said. “She makes learning fun for the kids, and they’re excited every day to go to school. When they go remote she makes sure they have everything they need and she is always available to answer questions that I have as a parent. She also delivers lunches when the kids go remote so that she can still see all of her students!”
“That I loved because I got to see the kids,” Ballantini said of delivering lunches. “That’s the one reason I volunteered.”
Ballantini believes teaching in a small school has advantages, pandemic or not.
“We’re more like a family in a small school,” Ballantini said. “Everybody knows everybody. I have them in first grade, but when they’re in eighth grade, they’re still my kids. They’ll always be my kids.”
If you know of a Most Valuable Teacher, let us know. You can nominate a Most Valuable Teacher here.