Some teachers remain in our memories long after we leave the classroom.
We’re reminded of them by a gentle touch, a kind word or a piece of advice from a friend.
Angela Sprow, a fifth-grade English and language arts teacher at Bayou Meto Elementary School in Jacksonville, was recently named Teacher of the Year by the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District.
Sprow said she worked at Jacksonville Elementary School for seven years before switching to Bayou Meto Elementary, where she has taught for six years.
Teaching is something that Sprow said she remains passionate about.
“I’m very serious about teaching, and I love it every day, every year,” she said. “I choose to teach because I love the science and art of learning.”
Sprow said her goal is to help students become better thinkers while developing their own unique gifts and talents.
“I believe that every person is gifted and talented in their own special way, and every person has a learning difference. I want to help our scholars find their gifts and work with their learning differences so they can be the best version of themselves,” she said.
Sprow said it is up to elementary school teachers to teach children to love or hate learning.
Once a student listened to Sprow giving instructions in class with a very puzzled look on his face, she said.
Sprow said she quickly noticed his expression and asked him if he understood her instructions.
The student couldn’t pay attention because her reading glasses didn’t match her outfit, she said.
“He had been in my class for fourth and fifth grade, so he was used to me wearing reading glasses that match my clothes. I had forgotten the ones that matched, so I grabbed a spare pair off my desk. He wasn’t having that,” she explained.
Sprow said she sent him to pick some different glasses from her spare pairs, and he chose a pair that he thought matched so the class could continue the lesson.
“I had no idea that he was paying that close attention to me. They watch us every day and are impacted and influenced by how we conduct ourselves as professionals,” she said.
Teachers can work together to bring professionalism back to the teaching profession, she said.
“I am passionate about teaching by doing. I use art, music, movement, poetry, sign language and other methods to engage my students in the learning process. I know that when children are interested and engaged, learning takes place,” she said.
Sprow considers herself a lifelong learner and said she tries to learn something new each day.
If we stop and listen, people of all ages can teach us new things, she said.
Sprow said she grew up in Little Rock and currently resides in Jacksonville with her husband, Richard.
The Sprows have two adult children, Merri Sprow and Elizabeth Haynes, who is married to Justin Haynes.
“I am very proud and have a great respect for my daughters and my son-in-law,” Angela Sprow said. “They are all incredible professionals and carry themselves like Christian ladies and a gentleman.”
Sprow said she received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
She received a master’s degree in elementary education from Harding University in Searcy, and English as a Second Language certification from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.
Sprow’s hobbies include reading children’s books, playing piano at church and taking care of her dachshunds.
“The most important calling I have in my career is found in the Scripture Matthew 25:34-46: ‘In as much as you have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto Me.’ We have the least ones of Jesus’ in our classrooms, and the responsibility is awesome and great,” she said.
Gary Beck, principal of Bayou Meto Elementary School, described Sprow’s personality as friendly, caring, fun and motherly.
Beck said Sprow was named Teacher of the Year as a result of her excellent teaching practices and her ability to connect to students on a personal level.
Her positive personality, can-do attitude and ability to make those around her better make her unique, he said.
“She is a very driven teacher who understands the value of education,” Beck said. “She loves the Jacksonville community and all of the students at Bayou Meto. She builds relationships with her students and gains their trust and respect, which allows her to fully educate them.”
Sprow stays after school to work with students, gives them rides home from school and attends their events on her own personal time, he said.
“She is absolutely one of the best teachers that I have worked with during my 28 years in education,” Beck said.
Teachers are a catalyst for all other professions, Sprow said, and that’s one reason she chooses to teach.
“I know that there is not a doctor in an office, a surgeon in an emergency room, an architect constructing a skyscraper, a preacher in a pulpit, a lawyer in a courtroom or a journalist writing an article who has not been directed, taught, influenced and loved by an elementary school teacher,” Sprow said.
“I am honored and blessed to have a profession that I look back on with fondness, and look forward to with excitement and anticipation about the wonderful work of learning.”
Staff writer Kayla Baugh can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or kbaugh@arkansasonline.com.