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Brolsma selected Fairmont Area teacher of the year

Education Minnesota Fairmont has selected Pam Brolsma as its 2017 Teacher of the year.

She has been an instructor for 36 years, with 25 spent in Fairmont. Her colleagues say she is very deserving of the honor.

Though pleasantly surprised by the award, Brolsma says she really feels it belongs to more than just one person.

“The other people that were nominated are all phenomenal people,” she said. “I’m surrounded by teachers of the year every day, and I think that’s what makes us all better people, is who we’re surrounded with, so I look at myself as a representative of all the teachers here.”

“Pam Brolsma is a dedicated professional,” said Joice Forster, EMF president, and a third- and fourth-grade teacher at the elementary school. “She truly loves her students and wants to see them succeed.  She puts in much time and effort to provide engaging lessons and hold the students accountable, not only for their learning, but their behavior as well.

“Pam has been a leader in developing the character education curriculum for Fairmont Area Schools.  She understands how important this component is in a child’s growth and development as a citizen scholar.  She initiated bringing the Top 20 curriculum to the elementary school and teaches her students to live above the line, care about others, and be good problem-solvers.”

When asked about her time spent teaching, Brolsma said it requires something above and beyond hard work, and she noted some of the changes she has seen over the years.

“You can’t do this without caring about kids, and I don’t know how anybody could stay in this profession without that,” she said. “But I’ve seen some really cool things over the years that have changed, including the creation of PLCs or Professional Learning Communities.

“When I first started out, I taught in some districts that were really small, and you worked more in isolation or found other teachers that were kind of young, and that was your clique and who you went to with questions. From there we evolved into having mentors, and now we have these PLCs.”

PLCs are groups of educators in the same discipline who meet regularly to analyze data and find out what is and is not working. Brolsma is the PLC leader for the first-grade PLC team, and is excited about the opportunity to work with her colleagues for the betterment of their students as a whole.

“The really cool thing about it is that we have young and old teachers at the same table,” she said. “There is a new person on our staff in first grade, and she has a voice just as everybody else, and she brings her energy and new ideas to the group. Then you have the wisdom of those who have had their boots on the ground for a long time, and you’re all working together so you’re not just working with people who have the same teaching style as you do.

“We work on our learning targets and what the strategies are to meet those, and we know that those basic things are happening in every classroom, and every child is going to get that, though it may not necessarily be delivered in the same way because we all have our different teaching styles.”

Brolsma also notes that the most exciting thing to her over the years has been the development of neuroscience and its relation to how kids learn. Not only do her students learn how their brain works and grows, but also how to develop the positive habits of thinking, learning and communicating.

“The things that we’ve learned about how the brain works and how I bring that to my kids is very important, and blends together with character education through our district’s Respect Initiative,” she said. “As Theodore Roosevelt said, you can educate a man in mind, but if you don’t educate him in also in morals, you educate a menace to society. The goal is to get them to learn not only the answers, but how they got them, and how they choose to respond to their schoolwork and friends.”

Brolsma’s fellow first-grade teammates, Katie Rodning, Missy Aukes, Laurie Scott, Chelsey Haase and Krysten Walters shared how they feel about having worked with her over the years, saying she is an inspiration to them: “Pam Brolsma has served as a truly exemplary teacher in our district for many years. The dedication she shows toward her students, grade level, and school, is second to none, and even with her wealth of knowledge and experience, Pam is always looking for new and innovative ways to improve her teaching and reach all learners. The way she teams with families to be a part of the learning process and support staff/community members in showing gratitude demonstrates her respect of all who impact the education of the ‘whole child.’

“Pam is a natural leader and a wonderful listener, who has the ability to think creatively when solving problems and always thinks about the big picture: what’s best for children. Pam has been instrumental in bringing character education to the forefront in Fairmont Area Schools by writing curriculum and bringing Judicious Discipline, Love and Logic, PBIS and Top 20 training (and championing the use of that vocabulary and way of thinking) to our staff.

“Mrs. Brolsma, or Mrs. B, as her students refer to her, is an amazing teacher who gives all she has to her students,” Forster added. “I am very proud to call her my colleague and friend.”

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