Conger has spent her entire six-year career at Bicentennial South as an English Language Development (ELD) teacher. In addition to her teaching duties she has also served as an ELD Induction Coach, on the District’s ELD Committee and Summer School Coordinator. She was Bicentennial South’s 2012 Teacher of the Year, and in 2011 earned National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
“My ELL education philosophy is simply ‘Yes we can,’” Conger said in her nomination packet. “All too often in ELL education the focus is on what students can’t do. In a teaching world overwhelmed by negativity, I ensure that my answer to anything my students are asked to do is ‘Yes we can.’ . . . I believe ELL education, and teaching in general, needs more positivity, and starting with myself, I try to be that change every time I walk on campus.”
As Arizona’s ELL Teacher of the Year Conger will serve as a spokesperson and representative for her colleagues statewide. She will be honored next month at a banquet in Tucson.
“It is an absolute honor to be an ELD teacher,” Conger said. “ELD teacher have the power to truly change the lives of our ELL students. English is a difficult language to master, but we, as ELD teachers, hold the keys to unlocking English and a whole new world for our ELL students. Many of the students we teach come from struggling families, many with difficult academic experiences themselves. The efforts and dedication to our students can make a real life difference in each and every one of the students we teach. . . . Just because our students are learning a second language does not mean they are not capable of everything we ask them to do and more. We need to hold ourselves to the highest of teaching standards, set rigorous expectations for our kids, and support them as they learn to set these high expectations for themselves. We need to show our ELL students what is available to them through hard work and a commitment to themselves and to learning. . . . I am proud to be an ELL teacher, and wouldn’t choose to do anything else.
# # #