Golden Apple winner praised for the joy and consistency she brings to the classroom
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Keith Country Day Elementary School Teacher Alyssa Passmore was awarded the Golden Apple Award in March for the joy and consistency she brings to the classroom.
During Golden Apple's selection process, students were not aware that their teacher was being considered for the award.
'I just told them that someone was looking for a really excellent second-grade class,' said Passmore. 'They were really proud when observers came in… I didn't tell them until the very end what it was actually for. Then they were very excited.'
She's very consistent,' said Head of School Co-Lead Annie Baddoo. 'She delivers this high-quality, very targeted instruction for every child every day. She does it with so much joy.'
Her students also expressed how wonderful she is as a teacher.
'She's kind, nice and generous,' said one student.
'I like her teaching style,' another student explained. 'She always gives us second chances if we get things wrong.'
Passmore made the life-changing decision to switch from teaching high school Spanish classes to elementary education five years ago.
'The biggest key to being a teacher long term is finding the best fit for you,' said Passmore. 'Finding joy in your everyday, finding what you love, what makes your day fun and sparks the joy in your students as well.'
For a full list of the Rockford area's Golden Apple Award Winners, click .
To learn more about the award and the organization, visit the Golden Apple Foundation's
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Florida, Latin American and Caribbean styles long have infused buildings with color
Pink hues are associated with South Florida, yes, but the color is embraced elsewhere, too. Toulouse, France, is known as the Pink City for its heavy use of red-pink terracotta bricks. Jaipor, India, also is known as the Pink City for its pink buildings painted as a show of hospitality to welcome Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband, in 1876. There's even a law in Jaipor requiring that new buildings hew to the rose hue. And while pink sometimes is linked to politics or protest, its lasting message is mostly that of health, architects said. Even the phrase 'being in the pink' conveys a message of well-being. In Florida, Latin American and Caribbean styles long have infused buildings with color. And in the 1920s, architect Addison Mizner created his signature style of Mediterranean and Spanish influences, including reddish barrel-tiled roofs, in Boca Raton and Palm Beach. People today generally associate the color pink with women and girls. Think Barbie and the hot pink marketing blitz accompanying the 2023 release of the Barbie film, followed by the Barbiecore fashion that accompanied the hoopla. But it wasn't always so. Rocco Ceo, an architecture professor at the University of Miami, said throughout the centuries, pink has been associated with wealth and often, men. 'Color is always shifting in terms of its meaning and cultural significance,' said Ceo, who teaches seminars on color theory. In the late 1970s, an up-and-coming architecture firm called Arquitectonica designed a waterfront house in Miami Shores that became known as the Pink House. The property featured five shades of rose-tinted paint, ranging from a light pink to a red. The tower features a large cutout square filled with a palm tree, a red staircase and a giant rounded hot tub. Arquitectonica then would go on to design a new condominium for the Miami skyline: the 22-story building known as The Atlantis on Brickell Bright, bold tropical colors were used to 'draw attention to this city and its potential,' Arquitectonica co-founder Fernando Fort-Brescia said in a recent interview. It worked. The next year, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "Surrounded Islands" installation turned Miami's Biscayne Bay into an explosion of bubble-gum pink, with 11 islands surrounded by 6.5 million square feet of floating pink fabric. Then along came a television show in 1984 featuring two stylish police detectives set in a Miami wonderland of color. Miami Vice actor Don Johnson wore suits and T-shirts that often included the color pink. Although Greater Miami's once colorful Art Deco pastels had by the early 1980s decayed and turned gritty, Miami Vice depicted a sexy tropical landscape and an aspirational notion of South Florida paradise. Such was the environment when the Phillips Point complex in West Palm Beach was built in 1985 by real estate developer Murray Goodman. Alexandra Clough is a business writer at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at aclough@ X: @acloughpbp. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Why pink is associated with South Florida style, look
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Rockford residents battle through hardship to get a high school diploma
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Several Rockford residents who were enrolled in an online high school program received their high school diplomas at the Nordlof Center on Wednesday. The Adult High School Program is offered by the Rockford Public Library to support those in the community battling hardship who want to earn their high school diploma later in life. Over 30% of Rockford residents do not have diplomas because of personal hardships, according to Loomis. The program's Development Director, Brook Loomis, said there were over 175 people enrolled this year. 'I feel like every time we come to these ceremonies, it almost feels more like a pep rally,' explained Loomis. 'Yeah, it brings you to tears because, you see, multi-generational families graduating together.' 'I think it really takes away those barriers that they might have had before,' Loomis continued. 'That's really what we've found with this program is that we allow students to do it on their terms.' One of the program's academic coaches could not be prouder of his students. 'I've been with this program for about eight years, and to see a lot of our students come from where they were to actually getting a diploma,' said Academic Coach Gibson Garcon. 'Some of them didn't even think it was possible.' The program will continue to provide Rockford residents a second chance, with 100 people already enrolled for next year's classes. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Gold from legendary 1708 shipwreck is seen in new images
More than three centuries after a legendary Spanish galleon loaded with treasure sank off the coast of Colombia, researches have uncovered new details about gold coins found scattered around the shipwreck. Dubbed the "holy grail" of shipwrecks, the San Jose galleon was sunk by the British navy near Cartagena in 1708, killing most of the roughly 600 crewmembers on board. The ship was believed to be holding gold, silver, gemstones and other treasure worth billions of dollars. Now researchers have analyzed intricately designed gold coins found near the wreck, confirming they are indeed from the iconic San Jose. The coins feature depictions of castles, lions and crosses on the front and the "Crowned Pillars of Hercules" above ocean waves on the back, according to a new study published Tuesday in the journal Antiquity. Researchers, including experts from Colombia's navy, studied images taken by remotely operated vehicles of dozens of coins that are scattered around the shipwreck nearly 2,000 feet below the ocean's surface. The study's authors said the exact number of coins on the seabed is difficult to determine "due to the dynamic nature of the site." But an analysis of high-resolution images from the remotely operated vehicles shows each coin's average diameter is 32.5 millimeters and weighs roughly 27 grams. On some of the coins, researchers were able to discern the letters "PVA" — representing a Latin motto meaning "Plus Ultra" or "Further Beyond." That adage was used on currency to signify the expansion of the Spanish monarchy in the Atlantic, the study's authors said. Numbers depicting the coins' denomination and the date of minting (1707) could also be seen. Last August, Colombian authorities said one remotely operated vehicle surveyed the wreck, uncovering numerous artifacts, including an anchor, jugs and glass bottles. The Colombian government announced last year it would begin extractions from the ship off its Caribbean coast, using multiple remotely operated vehicles. The ship was discovered in 2015, but its exact location has been kept secret to protect the storied wreck from potential treasure hunters. Since its discovery, multiple parties have laid claim to the shipwreck, including Colombia, Spain and Indigenous Qhara Qhara Bolivians who claim the treasures on board were stolen from them. The wreck has also been claimed by U.S.-based salvage company Sea Search Armada, which says it first discovered the wreck more than 40 years ago. The cause of the San Jose's sinking has also been debated. British documents indicate that the ship did not explode, according to Colombia's government, but Spanish reports suggest the ship was blown up in battle. Either way, the ship — laden with chests of emeralds and about 200 tons of gold — sank with most of its crew while heading back from the New World to Spain on June 7, 1708. In May 2024, Colombia declared the site of the shipwreck a "protected archeological area." An accused woman skips her pedicure, kills her ex-husband LAPD chief speaks out about deployment of military forces to anti-ICE protests Sneak peek: The Day My Mother Vanished
