In the nine years Donna Schatz has been a teacher, the world of education has expanded and adapted to an almost unending list of obstacles.
New technology, shifting curricular standards, changing social-emotional needs of students, sure, an unprecedented global pandemic – the list goes on. What Schatz has excelled at most is staying flexible.
The education community in Southwest Washington agrees: Schatz was named the 2024 Regional Teacher of the Year by Educational Service District 112, which works with school districts throughout the region.
Humbled and a bit shocked, Schatz’s initial reaction when she learned she’d received the accolade was to credit her fellow teachers and a supportive school environment that’s kept her in Washougal for the entirety of her career.
“I know that there are incredible teachers all throughout Southwest Washington and that they are doing amazing things too,” Schatz said. “But it’s also nice to be recognized and hear that other people also think what I’m doing is good for education.”
In the classroom
Schatz — a Portland native — teaches science and career and technical education. She is regularly tasked with walking students through some of the most notoriously difficult subjects: chemistry, biology and engineering. A major pillar of her approach, she said, is recognizing when it’s time to slow down a concept to keep students on the same page.
“I kept thinking how we needed to hit all these standards and keep pushing. But then I realized I can take my time to make sure the students know the content we’re working on, and it makes it easier in the long run,” Schatz said. “It’s OK to take a pause sometimes. I think to myself too, ‘What can I do better as a teacher?’”
Taking the time to pause has helped her better connect individually with students. At a small district like Washougal, forging those individual connections are even more key as academic achievement recovers from the pandemic.
Reinforcing her classes with breaks to focus on emotional well-being has helped strengthen bonds with her students. Sometimes it means scrapping chemistry for an hour to pull out the “feelings wheel” or engage in group discussions about what outside-the-classroom factors are influencing school performances.
“I’ve kept (the momentum) going with kindness and grace, as cliché as it sounds,” she said. “It’s important to remember that my students are kids, they’re high-schoolers. And I need to treat them with the same kindness and forgiveness that I want for myself.”
Schatz tries to be flexible in the level or rigor in her lessons and sometimes bases lessons on things she thinks would be personally cool. One lesson of note, she said, involved blending various foods to help Advanced Placement biology students get a better grasp of how macromolecules operate in the body.
“We did a mystery lab where we have to figure out how a victim got poisoned and where it could have come from food-wise,” she said. “The blending was a little gross, but it was re-energizing. This is why I got into science, because I think it’s fun. If this is why I like this, that’s what I want to teach.”
Looking ahead
Going forward, Schatz said she wants to prioritize developing community relationships and get students out of the classroom for more field trips.
“The last couple years I’ve been very focused on getting my students out in the community and showing their projects to people who have a stake,” she said.
Schatz also expressed interest in bringing in other teachers or local experts as guest speakers to help draw connections between curriculum and practical applications. Increasingly engaging projects, she said, can also help combat other distractions that have popped up in recent years.
“I keep thinking, ‘How do I integrate more elements and technology into the classroom, like how can I be more engaging than TikTok?’”
To other teachers who may wonder what exactly earned her ESD 112’s accolade, Schatz advises teachers to look no further than their own school community for support.
“I remain humbled because I know that I am the teacher I am because of the other teachers at my school,” Schatz said. “We all work together and collaborate so much and push each other so much.”
