Year Awarded: 2014
Paddock Road Elementary Teacher
Pam Mitchell has been teaching at Paddock Road Elementary School in Omaha for 20 years. Although teaching wasn’t her first career choice, she quickly realized that it should have been, and she went back to school to earn a Master’s degree in Education. Working with Shane Lopez of Gallup, Pam initiated a unit in her classroom about hope. With “Goal Chasing” students made realistic plans to meet short- and long-term goals. This project resulted in a local bank setting up a “Student Branch” at Paddock to help students save for their goals. Pam is a writer and frequently uses her poems to inspire her children, including presenting each child with a framed poem indicating their unique characteristics and positive accomplishments. Pam teaches hope as her students learn reading, writing, and arithmetic.
“I never want my students to be afraid to take risks... We stumble, we get up. We achieve, we celebrate. And we do it together.”
-Pam Mitchell