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.

 

 


© Every submission is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

 

Show your appreciation of this freely provided information by not copying it to any other site without our permission.

 

Become a Clark County History Buff

 

Report Broken Links

A site created and maintained by the Clark County History Buffs
and supported by your generous donations.

 

Webmasters: Leon Konieczny, Tanya Paschke,

Janet & Stan Schwarze, James W. Sternitzky,

Crystal Wendt & Al Wessel

 

CLARK CO. WI HISTORY HOME PAGE