{"id":36740,"date":"2018-02-02T08:34:06","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T13:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=36740"},"modified":"2018-02-02T08:34:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T13:34:40","slug":"alumna-top-new-teacher-receives-kansas-horizon-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/alumna-top-new-teacher-receives-kansas-horizon-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna a \u2018top new teacher,\u2019 receives Kansas Horizon Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong>A 2016 alumna of Eastern Mennonite University has been named a winner of the Kansas Horizon Award for top new teachers by the Kansas Commissioner of Education.<\/p>\n

Courtney Unruh is in her second year as a sixth-grade teacher at Hutchinson STEM Magnet School at Allen, where she \u201cpairs high expectations with calmness, consistency and patience,\u201d said Principal Bryan Cunningham. \u201cIn her early career, she is able to embrace the importance of putting students\u2019 needs first and developing strong relationships with students and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The school serves a community in which many students experience a \u201clack of consistency in their lives,\u201d and so Unruh tries every day to connect with students at a personal level.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimply showing up every day and caring about the well being of each student\u201d has a \u201cprofound impact,\u201d she said. \u201cThe positive relationships that are made with students are just as important as what is learned academically throughout the year. They are also the most rewarding part of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unruh points to her experience in the EMU education program<\/a> as integral to her successful career start.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that I didn\u2019t fully appreciate about EMU until I began teaching and started talking to other teachers was how much teaching experience I had before I even entered the teaching profession,\u201d she said. \u201cEMU is exceptional at placing students into classroom environments and allowing them a safe place to practice and begin to understand all areas of the teaching world \u2013 even before student teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting after teaching in order to revise lessons and better implement best practices was a key takeaway from her studies, she said. \u201cI am constantly and naturally spending time after a lesson determining what worked well, what didn\u2019t work well, who needs a reteach lesson, if I am reaching the needs of all my students, et cetera.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the Hutchinson Public Schools announcement<\/a>, to be eligible for a Horizon Award, teachers must have successfully completed their first year of teaching and have performed in such a way as to distinguish themselves as outstanding. As a recipient of the Kansas Horizon Award, Unruh is now a member of the Kansas Exemplary Educators Network (KEEN), a network of educators from around the state who have been formally recognized for exemplary performance. Members of KEEN have an opportunity to network with other outstanding educators and participate in a number of professional development programs throughout the year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0A 2016 alumna of Eastern Mennonite University has been named a winner of the Kansas Horizon Award for top new teachers by the Kansas Commissioner of Education. Courtney Unruh is ... read more about Alumna a \u2018top new teacher,\u2019 receives Kansas Horizon Award<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[266,17562,5594],"tags":[],"feature":[17427,17426,17241],"class_list":["post-36740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-digest","category-education","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nAlumna a \u2018top new teacher,\u2019 receives Kansas Horizon Award - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2018\/alumna-top-new-teacher-receives-kansas-horizon-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumna a \u2018top new teacher,\u2019 receives Kansas Horizon Award - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0A 2016 alumna of Eastern Mennonite University has been named a winner of the Kansas Horizon Award for top new teachers by the Kansas Commissioner of Education. 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