'It's a calling'

TRI-LAKES AREA — One Benton elementary teacher has found a way to break the language barrier with her students and has been rewarded for it.

Jeannie Martin, an English as a Second Language teacher at Angie Grant Elementary in Benton, has been teaching non-English-speaking students for 14 years and was named the Benton School District Teacher of the Year.

"I was very surprised," Martin said. "I actually asked if I could turn it down, because I don't think it's about one person. To me it's a calling, living out life's purpose, and I feel blessed to be doing this."

This year, Martin has 44 students. Some of them speak no English, and others are students she has had for several years who are now proficient in English.

Caroline Maldonado, 9, is from Honduras and has been in Martin's class since the first grade.

"I like Mrs. Martin because she is a very nice person," Caroline said. "My favorite thing is when we study animals. I like the kangaroo rat the best."

Instead of having a fellow teacher, principal or superintendent write her a letter of reference for the Teacher of the Year award, she had a former student write it for her.

"When this student came here, she was in 10th grade and spoke Vietnamese. No English," Martin said. "I was just amazed at her resilience and eagerness to learn. She has come so far, and now she is set to graduate from UALR. We spent a lot of time working together, because I saw so much potential. It's just a joy to see them come in and then get into work."

Another former student, Maricela Resendiz, is now a teacher's aide for the ESL program in the Benton School District.

"She is the only teacher I have ever met that is so dedicated," Resendiz said. "She really deserved this award. She was my teacher in juniorhigh, and she doesn't speak Spanish, but she was able to teach us English."

Teaching was not Martin's first calling. She went to school and worked as a dietitian at the UAMS Medical Center.

"I was in college and was going to teach home economics," Martin said. "My mother was a teacher, and she was a big inf luence. But I was encouraged not to pursue teaching and go into dietetics. It was the path I took, and it wasn't a bad path."

Martin later had two sons and when her older son started kindergarten, she started volunteering at his school.

"My son's k inderg a r ten teacher told me, 'You've missed your calling'" Martin said. "So I looked into what I had to do to get back into school. I decided I needed to wait, becauseit seemed like an insurmountable task."

But Martin did go back to school at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and was certified to teach prekindergarten to sixth grade, then became ESL-certified in kindergarten through 12th grade.

"Some people ask me what the bravest thing I have ever done, and I tell them it's taking this job," Martin said.