School: Loyal Alumnus 1 of 5
Wis. Teachers of the Year (Meyer - 2020)
Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail:
dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Stanford ,Taylor, Meyer, Pigott, Fisher, Butterbrodt, Ganje, Doerfler,
Ginott, Kohl, Jackson, Kilpin, Kintzle, Lederman, Richardson, Gould
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 9/09/2020
Loyal Alumnus 1 of 5 Wisconsin Teachers of the Year (Meyer - 2020)
Derrick Meyer teaches agriscience and driver’s education at Amery High School
and has been named a Teacher of the Year. He cited influential teachers from
growing up in Loyal as a big part of the reason he went into education.
State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor has recognized five exemplary
Wisconsin educators for being named the 2021 Wisconsin Teachers of the Year,
among them a Loyal native Derrick Meyer. The group was notified of their
selection for the honor by Stanford Taylor in a virtual gathering Aug. 27.
“Teachers have the incredible responsibility of educating our children and
inspiring them to grow,” Stanford Taylor said. “I am honored to recognize these
five educators for their dedication and commitment to Wisconsin students and to
call them our 2021 Wisconsin Teachers of the Year.”
The son of Danny and Diane, Meyer teaches agriscience and driver’s education at
the Amery School District. He has taught there since 2005.
Loyal native Derrick Meyer (right) accepts a Wisconsin Teacher of the Year Award
from Amery High School principal Josh Gould. Meyer was one of five teachers in
the state to receive the honor this year. Submitted photos.
“I never expected anything like this,” said Meyer after being recognized in a
surprise ceremony in the school auditorium.
Meyer previously served on Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction content
writing teams for Agriscience instruction and was a finalist for the National
Agriscience Teacher of the Year award. Meyer’s teaching philosophy involves
engaging students to build excitement about learning and finding their
respective passions in the process.
“Teaching is not always easy, but I can tell you that it’s my passion and it’s
what I love to do,” said Meyer.
He said he was grateful to God and his family for all their support. His family
includes his wife, Debbie and his four children, Deidre, Drew, Deanna and Dani.
“There’s a whole group of people that are actually why I became a teacher,” said
Meyer. “It actually goes back to kindergarten when I was just a little tyke. And
I came into the kindergarten class and she had the coolest room ever and she had
a rabbit named Thumper that ran around the classroom. I was like, ‘Wow, we have
animals in the classroom’ and you can see I still have that today.
“Mrs. [Gwen] Pigott was her name. I mean all the way through school, she went to
every wrestling match I had. She even went down to state. She was the first one
to console me when I got beat in the state finals. She was with me the whole
time.
“Mrs. Fisher, she was my sixth grade science teacher,” Meyer continued. “She
pushed me so hard, but I love going to her classroom. Every day I wanted to go
and see what I was going to learn next. … I wanted my classroom to be that way,
where the kids were excited to be a part of the class.”
Mrs. [Marvelene] Butterbrodt, my English teacher from high school, she pushed me
to speak more than I ever wanted to speak and made me do forensics every year …
She was always behind me, pushing me to try harder.”
When he was in college, Meyer said he kind of lost sight of wanting to become a
teacher but was already pretty far into his agricultural education degree so he
figured he would finish it. After college, he moved to Amery because that’s
where his fiancée was from and stayed with his fiancée’s parents while she
finished up college.
“[It was there] I met the best teacher I’ve ever known, Mr. Gary Ganje,” said
Meyer. “And he changed my life forever because then, all of a sudden, the
passion came back, and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else besides
teaching. He is an inspiration.”
Meyer extended appreciation to the school administration, including district
administrator Shawn Doerfler, and the school board for allowing him to try some
“crazy ideas” while teaching.
“Mr. Doerfler, you allow me to have my dreams, and I appreciate that,” said
Meyer.
He also shared his gratefulness t fellow staff members and praised the quality
of their instruction.
“I’m always amazed that a little town like this can have as many good teachers
as we have,” he said.
Meyer ended his impromptu speech with a quote by Haim G. Ginott that he kept in
his wallet. It reads, “I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the
decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the
climate. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood
that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a
child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of
inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, It is my response that
decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child
humanized or dehumanized.”
“I think that kind of tells what we’re all about here at Amery,” said Meyer. “I
think our job is the most important job out of any job you could ever have. I
don’t care if I don’t get paid as much as other people; what I do care about is
that we’re building leaders for the future, we’re building people that will be a
part of our society that will make our society better.”
The 2021 Wisconsin Teachers of the Year are among the 86 educators recognized
earlier this year by the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation’s Teacher Fellowship
Program, which honors and supports teaching excellence and innovation across
Wisconsin. The honorees were selected by a diverse committee to represent
voices, contexts and perspectives as educational leaders throughout Wisconsin.
Herb Kohl, former state senator, philanthropist, and businessman furthered his
commitment to the Wisconsin Teacher of the Year Program by adding fifth honoree,
an increase from the usual four who are recognized annually. The Herb Kohl
Educational Foundation will also provide a $3,000 personal award to each of
those selected.
Besides Meyer, the other 2021 Wisconsin Teachers of the Year include Koren
Jackson, special education teacher at Milwaukee Transition High School; Trish
Kilpin, school social worker for the Greendale School District; Brooke Kintzle
(nee Lederman), cross-categorical special education teacher at Brodhead Middle
School; and Susan Richardson, who teaches third-grade German immersion at
Milwaukee German Immersion School.
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