EUGINE, OREGON — Eugene high school teacher has been named 2019 Oregon Teacher of the year.
Keri Pilgrim Ricker teaches health occupation classes at Churchill High. Ricker coordinates and teaches the school’s career and technical education health services pathway, which includes classes such as anatomy and physiology, medical terminology and health sciences.
She was recognized for her teaching rooted in real-world lessons that hold students’ interest and prepare them for health careers.
Colt Gill, the school chief, noted that the relevance and rigor of content demonstrated in Keri’s classroom is a model of excellence.
The selection committee highly evaluated her approach towards giving freedom to students for expressing themselves. She motivated the students to speak out about what matters to them. And she prioritized the matters that concerned the students most. She quotes, “We must model civil discourse and provide students an opportunity for practice, so they can navigate the workplace and the world responsibly and with empathy.”
Ricker has a diverse background in biology, ecology, chemistry and animal science. The school chief believes that the diversity of background played a role for the teacher to achieve this recognition.