Episode 34: 2024 National Teacher of the Year with Missy Testerman

Nati Rodriguez [2:09]  

Well, first of all, congratulations. It’s a huge honor and celebration to you for this award and for being named the National Teacher of the Year. How does it feel to be recognized for your work and accomplishments?  

Missy Testerman [2:23]  

It is just an amazing honor. There are three and a half million teachers across our country who are investing in our students’ lives. And I’m just honored and humbled to be able to be the advocate for them this year.  

Nati Rodriguez [2:39]  

Great, thank you. And for people who are not familiar with Rogersville City School, could you talk a little bit about the community you serve?  

Missy Testerman [2:48]  

Rogersville is a very small community in the eastern portion of Tennessee. It’s a community of around 4,500 people; it is predominantly white. I currently teach English as a Second Language to our immigrant and first-generation American populations. 

Nati Rodriguez [2:57]  

Got it. And what kind of languages do you see in your classroom? And how do you go about teaching students from different locations and different language abilities? 

Missy Testerman [3:22]  

That’s a great question. So, this past year, I had students from four different language backgrounds, Spanish, Chinese, Gujarati, and Arabic. And in terms of teaching a student a new language, we know that immersion is the quickest way to make sure that they hear lots of English spoken all day long. They have an opportunity to engage with people using their emerging English skills as well. 

Nati Rodriguez [3:54]  

How would you describe your teaching style? 

Missy Testerman [3:59] 

I’m very structured. But yet, I feel like my students feel safe to make mistakes and be themselves while in our classroom. And I think that that just merges into a good blend of what it takes to help students learn a new language. 

Nati Rodriguez [4:17]  

Considering that your classroom is mixed and there are students that speak different languages at the same time, how do you ensure that all students have equal opportunities to engage with the curriculum effectively, and communicate with each other and with you? 

Missy Testerman [4:34] 

That’s a tricky balance. So, we work on our English together. And a lot of times it’s a shock to students that they don’t have the same home language, that one may go home and speak Chinese, and the other two may go home and speak Spanish. But we work together on our English, mixing in words and phrases from their home language, and I feel like that helps build the bridge. 

Nati Rodriguez [5:07] 

What about working with their parents? Do you engage with them? And what does that look like? 

Missy Testerman [5:16] 

I have great communication with my families. Part of that is because our community is so small, and they trust me, which helps. But for my parents who do not have a strong English language background, a lot of times I’ll use a translation app. It’s not perfect, but it allows me to send messages to them that come through in their home language. And it allows them to use their home language to send messages back to me. Occasionally something will get lost in the translation, but usually, it’s a humorous thing that either they laugh about, or I laugh about. 

Nati Rodriguez [6:03] 

Got it. Thank you for bringing up the use of technology in that communication. What about in your classroom? Do students access or use technology to enable their communication with each other or with you? 

Missy Testerman [6:15] 

I only use that for newcomers. And I do run into situations where my newcomers will need to use that technology. I had a newcomer this year, and we had to work in an arrangement where she was allowed to use her phone to use the translation app to communicate with her peers. And luckily, her teachers were totally fine with that. She was also a rule follower and just used her phone for that since our students are not allowed to have access to their phones during the school day. 

Nati Rodriguez [6:52]  

Mrs. Testerman, can you tell us a little bit about how you got interested in this career? 

Missy Testerman [6:59] 

I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I went to kindergarten, I met my kindergarten teacher, and I wanted to be just like her. So, when it came time for me to go to college, there never really was any doubt at all.  

Nati Rodriguez [7:46] 

Got it. What about serving this community? Are you from the area? How did you get interested in working with the students that you work with? 

Missy Testerman [7:57] 

Our school’s English as a Second Language teacher came to me at the beginning of the school year and said that she was going to be moving, and I was instantly worried about who would serve our immigrant population. The next day, I received an email from the state of Tennessee telling me how the Grow Your Own program would enable teachers already teaching in Tennessee to add licensure in a high-need area, and ESL was one of those areas. So, I secretly enrolled at age 51, completed the coursework, passed my first-ever Praxis exam, and then became our school’s English as a Second Language teacher at the end of that school year. So, in Tennessee, we still use the term English as a Second Language, that’s a misnomer because, for some of my students, it is a third or a fourth language. I prefer the term multilingual teacher or teacher of English language learner. And several other states, mainly in the South, still use English as a Second Language as our title. 

Nati Rodriguez [9:13] 

That’s fantastic. It’s great to hear, I’ve heard about, I forgot the term you used – Grow Your Own – but you’re the first teacher I’ve spoken to that’s gone through that program. So that’s very exciting to hear it in action. I want to circle back to something that you mentioned about cellphones not being allowed in your school. And I’m curious how long that’s been in effect. I know that’s a conversation that’s happening in even large urban school districts. So, I’m curious how that functions in your school district. 

Missy Testerman [9:48] 

Well, years ago, our students had to leave their phones in the school office. We had this large black box that everyone’s phone went in, and it was locked during the school day. After COVID we allowed students to keep their phones with them, but they’re not allowed to have access to them. And our school takes disciplinary action against students who violate that. Now, I will say I’ve been in classrooms where it’s obvious that that rule is being circumvented. But by and large, most of our teachers adhere strongly to that policy. 

Nati Rodriguez [10:29] 

And how was this explained to parents and students? What is the message there about not using cellphones? 

Missy Testerman [10:37] 

The message is simple. While our students are with us, we want them concentrating on school things, not surfing social media, or texting each other, etcetera. 

Nati Rodriguez [10:49] 

Got it. And have you come up against any resistance from parents or students? It sounds like it’s been in effect for several years, so maybe it’s fine, and everybody’s accepted it but I’m very curious about that. 

Missy Testerman [11:03] 

I think by and large, most people have accepted it. Occasionally, we will run into some resistance from a parent who acts as though it’s a new policy when it is not. But typically, when it’s explained that it is for the student’s best interest, that helps things quite a bit. 

Nati Rodriguez [11:25] 

So, I’d love to chat a little bit about meeting the President, when you were acknowledged for your contribution to education, this great work that you’ve done, and being named National Teacher of the Year. There’s a photo of you with President Biden holding a crystal apple. Can you describe the photo and what that moment was like for you? 

Missy Testerman [11:47] 

Yes, that is when President Biden presented me with the crystal apple, and we were all in the Oval Office. My family was there with me, as was Margaret Millar, who was the head of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and it was just an amazing day. The President was very busy that day, because it was the same day that the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony was being held. But he took a lot of time with my family. 

Nati Rodriguez [12:21] 

That’s great. Thank you for sharing that. What would you say is your greatest contribution to education and this work that you’ve had?  

Missy Testerman [12:37] 

That’s hard. I feel like more than anything, I’ve been the one who has helped a student unlock the love of learning. Maybe they were a first or second grader who hadn’t had a lot of success at school yet, and over the course of our year together, that changed, allowing them to keep achieving because they had confidence in themselves. And for me, that’s the greatest joy of all.  

Nati Rodriguez [13:10] 

And as someone with deep experience in education and a long career, what are some of the things that you see working in the field? 

Missy Testerman [13:16] 

I think always our teacher’s devotion to our students – that has been the case since I was a child and that continues to be the case today. Our nation’s teachers care about our students and want them to achieve and create a productive future for themselves and I think you have to always call that a success.  

Nati Rodriguez [13:47] 

Anything that’s not working and thoughts on how to address it?  

Missy Testerman [13:54] 

I feel like especially coming out of the pandemic, we’ve seen some new challenges, particularly mental health challenges with students. The loss of ESSER funding, which is coming up quickly with the September 30th deadline to spend all the ESSER funds is looming above us; it is going to be interesting to see how districts make up that funding as they address our mental health crisis. Around that same time, schools began to see large percentages of students who were experiencing chronic absenteeism. We know if our students are not in our classrooms that we can’t teach them. And that’s a challenge that I see in my area. And it’s a challenge I hear from educators across the country. 

Nati Rodriguez [15:08] 

Any thoughts on what we could do about that chronic absenteeism? To your point, if they’re not in school, there’s not a lot we can do.  Step one, get them in the classroom. 

Missy Testerman [15:20] 

Yes, get them there. Reach out to families, explain how important it is that they’re in our classroom, and try to form relationships with those families. I know in my district, of course, we’re very small, this is easier done than in a large urban area, but our attendance supervisor will go to their home and talk to the parents and explain that they need to be at school. And that does go a long way toward getting them there.  

Nati Rodriguez [15:51] 

In your experience and in your community, what contributed to students not coming so much after COVID? 

Missy Testerman [16:01] 

I think it was a problem before COVID, I’m not going to lie. It isn’t as though COVID hit, and everyone stopped coming to school. But I think during COVID, when we were online, a lot of students got comfortable being at home, and it was difficult to make the transition back. Perhaps they were dealing with their own mental health issues such as depression or anxiety, and that only made the problem worse. 

Nati Rodriguez [16:29] 

What advice would you give someone considering a teaching career? 

Missy Testerman [16:35] 

My advice to anyone considering a teaching career is to find a good mentor. Find a teacher that you admire, spend a lot of time with that person in the classroom seeing what kinds of things that they do. Because the reality is if that teacher is a strong classroom teacher, he or she is also going to be a good mentor as well.  

Nati Rodriguez [17:01] 

Do you have a mentor that you would like to talk about? 

Missy Testerman [17:05] 

I did, I had the best mentor. She was a lady named Mary Jo. She was probably around 40 when I started teaching with her.  I was 21 and assumed she was old, and her life was over, because she was married and had two school-aged kids, what else was there to look forward to. But she took me under her wing, and she brought me up not just as a teacher, but as a person. She instilled a lot of confidence in me, but she also did not mind calling me out when I needed it. And she was a huge force in shaping the type of teacher that I am even now. 

Nati Rodriguez [17:53] 

That’s great. Thank you for sharing that. And hopefully she will listen to this recording once it’s released. 

Missy Testerman [18:01] 

Her family will. Unfortunately, she passed away very suddenly about seven years ago. And I still think of her and miss her and see things and think I must tell Mary Jo. But I’m sure her family will hear her daughter is an educator. So, she’s followed in her mom’s footsteps. 

Nati Rodriguez [18:23] 

I’m sorry to hear that. And thank you for sharing. What message do you have for your school community? Hopefully they will be listening to this when we release it, and what would you like to say to them? 

Missy Testerman [18:37] 

I would just like to say that I have enjoyed every minute of being at Rogersville City School. Even in the minutes when I was fussing about something at Rogersville City school, I was still happy being there. We have the luxury of having our students for 10 years because we have a preschool program. So, if a student starts with us as a preschooler, we get to see them grow for 10 years. And that helps us build a little community within our school. That’s a special thing to experience. 

Nati Rodriguez [19:14] 

And we like to ask all our guests this question, but what are you currently watching, reading, or listening to? 

Missy Testerman [19:23] 

 So, I am a policy nerd. And today is the day most states release the list of new education laws because they take place at the beginning of the new fiscal year. So, I have spent much of the day reading over policy changes all over the country. This is something I did even before I was National Teacher of the Year, I just really enjoy school policy. 

Nati Rodriguez [19:57] 

Wow, that’s one I did not expect and have not heard before. Anything interesting that piqued your interest in your reading today, that you’d like to share?  

Missy Testerman [20:08] 

It’s interesting across the country that a lot of the legislation that has come down is the same. It’s just in different states. And unfortunately, a lot of the legislation addresses things that are not issues. They don’t address issues that I see in education, and in fact, they may create their own set of issues. 

Nati Rodriguez [20:40] 

If you could influence policy, and maybe you do already as your second job, I’m not sure. What kind of legislation would you like to get behind or any changes you’d like to see?  

Missy Testerman [20:54] 

I would like to see legislation that addresses the mental health crisis, to make sure that we have the funding so that schools can hire therapists, counselors, et cetera, that we need to address this in our students. Because we know our students need to be healthy, both physically and emotionally, to be in the best place to learn and create a productive future for themselves.  

Nati Rodriguez [21:22] 

Yes, thank you. I second that. Mrs. Testerman, anything else you would like to share with our Learner audience before we sign off?  

Missy Testerman [21:32] 

I’m honored to be the National Teacher of the Year. And I look forward to seeing all the wonderful things going on across this country in the field of education over the next year. And I appreciate all the work our teachers are putting into our students and schools each day. 

• English as a Second Language
• Tennessee Grow Your Own Program 
• Meeting President Joe Biden 
• Chronic Absenteeism