Ann Quarles named Wake's teacher of the year

Ann Quarles, a fourth-grade teacher at Powell Elementary, tonight was named the 2008 Wake County teacher of the year.

Quarles was selected from among 10 finalists who attended the 2008 Wake County Teacher of the Year banquet on tonight at the Embassy Suites in Cary.

To qualify for the award, teachers had to submit portfolios containing professional background, educational history, community involvement, philosophy of teaching, among other things.

Ten selection committees reviewed the portfolios and narrowed the field to twenty semifinalists who were then observed in their classrooms by committee members. Each selection committee chose one teacher to be among the ten finalists.

"Students must see themselves as learners and believe that they can learn," said Quarles. "I believe that each child in my classroom possesses his or her own unique set of gifts and talents.

It is my job to help each child build on his or her strengths to become self-directed, successful learners."

"In observing Ann at work in her classroom, one will quickly recognize that she has an extensive knowledge base of current educational research and practice," said her principal Jimmy Sposato.

"She engages the children in explicit, focused and differentiated instruction that is both engaging and challenging. Ann exhibits best practice instructional strategies and a clarity of instructional purpose. Her room is covered with charts that provide a record of student learning."

As the Wake County Teacher of the Year, Quarles will represent Wake County in the North Carolina Teacher of the Year competition. She receives a check for $1,000, a laptop computer, one-year use of a 2008 Saturn and other gifts.