Congratulations to Mr. Syme!

Submitted by david.thacker on Wed, 03/19/2014 - 15:24
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Congratulations to Mr. Syme!  He is our teacher of the month. 

Mr. Bartholmew said this about him:

I think that Mr. Syme should be the teacher of the month.  Everyone knows that he is a great coach that is involved with golf, basketball and baseball.  Not everyone understands how outstanding he is at teaching in the classroom.  Mr. Syme is highly skilled at checking for understanding, using I can statements, and involving students in inquiry based lessons.   He is extremely well organized which allows him to always keep SIS up-to-date, understand which students understand specific I can statements, set up labs multiple times each week, prepare a game plan for games and practices each day, and works up Hobble Creek Canyon on the weekends.   Mr. Syme has an amazing ability to have students engaged in an activity and at the same time intervene with students about topics which he knows they are not proficient. He was the mastermind behind the 7th and 8th grade I can statements and does an amazing job communicating proficiencies to parents.  It shows that his students excel in essential understanding, as each year his students are the top performers on state testing in the science department, averaging near 90% proficiency.  Collaborating daily with Mr. Syme has allowed my teaching to be aligned with the state core and helped me understand how to actively involve students in scientific learning.

And Mr. Waters had this is say:

In the nine years that I have worked  here, Mr. Syme has been a great influence to his colleagues and students.  He has taught all of the sciences here and has a lot of experience in the field of science.  His expertise has been a wonderful resource for the science department and is highly valued among the other science teachers in our school.

His students love him as a teacher and coach.  His easy going personality and calm demeanor helps his students to feel comfortable around him.  Athletes from our school flock to him for advice and counsel on how they can perform better or just to talk about sports in general.  He is passionate about baseball and loves to see his athletes excel in the sport.

He is an outdoorsman and I believe at any given chance he would go fishing or hunting.  His room is full of pictures of the fish that didn’t get away.  At one time, he held the state record for the largest Brookie trout.

Mr. Syme is a family man and loves to spend time with his children and wife.  He is always concerned about their welfare and does everything he can to support them.  Even it means working multiple jobs year round to make sure his family has what they need.

He has been a good friend to me and has helped me in ways he will never know.  Of the many teachers here deserving to be teacher of the month, I couldn’t think of a better person to receive this award.  Congratulations  Mr. Syme for being teacher of the month.