Latest news with #Crosson
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Teacher of the Year Asks Rural Students to Tackle Big Global Topics With Empathy
Ashlie Crosson has always loved the classroom. Growing up in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, as one of seven kids of divorced parents, 'I found school to be this place of stability, while some other parts of my life were in transition and in changes,' Crosson told The 74 in a recent interview. 'I was a pretty natural student most of the time,' she added, 'but it was mostly because I had incredible teachers who invested in their students so far beyond what is expected of the job.' Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter She said she can remember all the way back to a kindergarten teacher who wrote her letters over the summer because she'd be her teacher again in first grade. 'I think I looked at that and said, 'This is an incredibly rewarding way to spend a life.'' It became a 14-year career that rewarded Crosson back — and on the national stage. The AP English teacher and high school journalism advisor was named the 2025 National Teacher of the Year April 29 by the Council of Chief State School Officers. The award, which follows her earning the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year title, allows Crosson to spend the next year traveling across the country as an ambassador to fellow educators. Ashlie Crosson is interviewed on CBS Mornings on April 29 after being unveiled as the winner of the 2025 National Teacher of the Year. (CBS Mornings) She'll step away from her hometown high school five years after she went back there to answer 'this higher calling to return to the place that made me into a successful adult and into somebody who had found joy and happiness in their adult life.' Crosson, a first-generation college graduate, was selected from a pool of 56 local winners who were narrowed down to three other finalists: American Samoa's Mikaela Saelua, an English language teacher who is the first finalist from the seven islands in the program's history; Washington, D.C.'s Jazzmyne Townsend, an elementary school special education teacher and children's book author; and Colorado's Janet Renee Damon, a high school history teacher at a transfer school who runs a school-based podcast program focused on mental health disparities. Related Fostering Culture & Belonging: Reflections from Teacher of the Year Finalists 'Ashlie is an authentic, self-reflective leader who uses her experiences to help elevate her students into successful careers and life after high school,' the National Teacher of the Year Selection Committee said in a statement. 'She is also a strong and passionate representative for educators, using her voice to help people understand the weight of the teaching profession and the gravity of what teachers do.' Crosson said she grounds the bulk of her classroom work in real-world connections and projects, which allow her students to explore English from a careers-based perspective, while also building understanding and empathy for people of diverse backgrounds across the world. This is perhaps most apparent in her 10th-grade elective course called Survival Stories, which she began designing as a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms fellow. In it, she wants her students to consider sweeping questions like, 'What problems are we trying to solve and in what ways do we need to communicate across borders?' To keep the course accessible and age appropriate, all the material —from non-fiction texts and memoirs, to podcasts and films — come from the voices of teens and adolescents. This allows her students, Crosson said, to have, 'really authentic and approachable conversations about things that can feel really big and really unapproachable.' Mifflin County, Pennsylvania (Mifflin County PA Official Website) In today's political climate, traversing some of these charged topics in rural Mifflin — an almost exclusively white town of just over 46,000, where almost 80% of the vote went to President Donald Trump in 2024 — might seem daunting. Crosson's approach is to begin with texts that take place as far from central Philadelphia as possible, so that by the time students reach stories from their own community — some of which they may have otherwise met with preconceived notions — they are able to analyze them with more nuance, greater empathy and a stronger text-based knowledge. 'We are all here, going through our own human experience,' Crosson said. She wants her students to ask, ' 'How do I relate to these people? How do I better understand these people?' Because at the end of the day, my students also want to be better understood. So there's a reciprocity there.' When her students come to her with challenging political questions — for example about Trump's recent executive orders looking to eradicate any focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in schools — she encourages them to return to the facts, asking, 'What are the actual details?' Related The Education Department Asked for Reports of DEI. It Might Get Something Else 'I'm able to keep my opinions out of things because I'm also first asking my students to put their opinions on pause,' she said, 'so that we have a chance to become more informed about things and have a better, more well-rounded understanding of what's going on before we start trying to figure out our feelings about it.' In addition to Survival Stories, Crosson teaches AP language and composition and 10th-grade English, while also running the school's journalism elective. At the newspaper and district magazine, called the Pawprint, she functions more as a boss and editor than teacher, she said, a position she cherishes, especially since a number of the high schoolers end up going into journalism. 'If students are basically getting simulations of future careers, I love that. And I love facilitating that.' Related Best Stories by USC Student Journalists of 2024 Crosson's classroom is covered with colorful student artwork from floor to ceiling and one corner hosts the 'One Word Board,'where students place the word that will most motivate and inspire them throughout the year. In a video for CBS Mornings, her students were asked to choose five words to describe Crosson: joyful, funny, caring, energetic (but not too much), passionate and dedicated were among their picks. One student said she sees Crosson as 'a safe space.' Another said that whenever she spots students struggling, 'She'll try to make you better as a student and [in] doing that you also learn lessons in how to take help and help others. So I think it makes students better people.' Along with her teaching responsibilities, Crosson serves as the communications chair for her union's negotiating team, assists with the school's Positive Behavior Interventions and Support programming, leads the district's international student trips and co-hosts 'The PL Playbook,' a podcast dedicated to teachers' professional learning. When asked her favorite book to teach, Crosson laughed and said, 'I honestly think that every book becomes my favorite book.' 'There are some books that I've taught for 10 years,' she continued 'and so now there's so many different colored pens [on the pages]. The book is the timeline of my teaching career. And there's something really beautiful about that.'
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ashlie Crosson named 2025 National Teacher of the Year
Ashlie Crosson, an English teacher at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, was exclusively revealed on "CBS Mornings" as the 2025 National Teacher of the Year. The Council of Chief State School Officers selects the winner each year. "It's an incredible honor," Crosson told "CBS Mornings." "It feels like a big responsibility, but it's also this incredible choice or chance to share my kids and my community with our country and at the same time sort of receive that back from teachers all over our nation, and that's the perfect opportunity." Crosson's courses include advanced placement language and composition. In a tribute video, her former and current students described her as passionate, caring, intelligent and dedicated. "She taught me a lot about finding your own identity and finding your passion with things," one student said. Crosson, who has been teaching for 14 years, said authenticity is a big factor in how she teaches, something her students have responded well to. "I think especially at the high school level, students are trying to figure out who they are, and they need to see that from their teachers, too. If we want them to figure out their identity, then we have to be ourselves as well, because they're going to learn through what they observe," she said. Principal Kelly Campagna credits the energy Crosson brings to her classroom every day, saying she makes her students "extend and stretch beyond comfort levels because she wants to get the most out of them." Even after receiving praise for her work, Crosson acknowledged her students. "They come in, they show up, and they make the job easy," she said. Her goals go beyond her high school classroom and into adulthood. "I think for our students, the more experience they have at the high school level, or younger than that, where they have the chance to struggle, fail, try again, try something new, then the more confident they're going to be when they become adults." She's also the adviser for the school journalism program. Crosson said she teaches her students the fundamentals of journalism, including interviewing, sources and being a consumer of news. "She taught me everything I know about writing, and taking journalism with Miss Crosson definitely opened my eyes to how much I enjoy writing," said Mina Phillips, a former student and current sports reporter for a local newspaper. When asked about national implications on education and President Trump's executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, she said, "I think that there's a lot of change and uncertainty going on with the national level of things, but within our classes, our focus is always on students and on meeting their needs and meeting the needs of our community, and so I think a lot of that will stay our focus." To support teachers, Crosson said it's important to focus on what you can do for your community. "Every school and every community's needs are different, and so find what your place needs, what your home needs, and that engagement and that involvement between families and businesses and stakeholders in the community is what creates a thriving school district," she said. Supreme Court appears poised to side with student with disability in school discrimination case Japan's population shrinking as marriage and birth rates plummet | 60 Minutes Trump tariffs executive order expected
CBS News
29-04-2025
- General
- CBS News
Ashlie Crosson named 2025 National Teacher of the Year: "It's an incredible honor"
Ashlie Crosson, an English teacher at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, was exclusively revealed on "CBS Mornings" as the 2025 National Teacher of the Year. The Council of Chief State School Officers selects the winner each year. "It's an incredible honor," Crosson told "CBS Mornings." "It feels like a big responsibility, but it's also this incredible choice or chance to share my kids and my community with our country and at the same time sort of receive that back from teachers all over our nation, and that's the perfect opportunity." Crosson's courses include advanced placement language and composition. In a tribute video, her former and current students described her as passionate, caring, intelligent and dedicated. "She taught me a lot about finding your own identity and finding your passion with things," one student said. Crosson, who has been teaching for 14 years, said authenticity is a big factor in how she teaches, something her students have responded well to. "I think especially at the high school level, students are trying to figure out who they are, and they need to see that from their teachers, too. If we want them to figure out their identity, then we have to be ourselves as well, because they're going to learn through what they observe," she said. Principal Kelly Campagna credits the energy Crosson brings to her classroom every day, saying she makes her students "extend and stretch beyond comfort levels because she wants to get the most out of them." Even after receiving praise for her work, Crosson acknowledged her students. "They come in, they show up, and they make the job easy," she said. Her goals go beyond her high school classroom and into adulthood. "I think for our students, the more experience they have at the high school level, or younger than that, where they have the chance to struggle, fail, try again, try something new, then the more confident they're going to be when they become adults." She's also the adviser for the school journalism program. Crosson said she teaches her students the fundamentals of journalism, including interviewing, sources and being a consumer of news. "She taught me everything I know about writing, and taking journalism with Miss Crosson definitely opened my eyes to how much I enjoy writing," said Mina Phillips, a former student and current sports reporter for a local newspaper. When asked about national implications on education and President Trump's executive order to dismantle the Department of Education, she said, "I think that there's a lot of change and uncertainty going on with the national level of things, but within our classes, our focus is always on students and on meeting their needs and meeting the needs of our community, and so I think a lot of that will stay our focus." To support teachers, Crosson said it's important to focus on what you can do for your community. "Every school and every community's needs are different, and so find what your place needs, what your home needs, and that engagement and that involvement between families and businesses and stakeholders in the community is what creates a thriving school district," she said.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Partisan endorsements, donations back Green Bay area school board races. What to know before you head to the polls
School board races are one of the few nonpartisan races in Wisconsin. But despite candidate pledges to represent constituents across the political spectrum, toeing the partisan line in the modern political environment isn't so simple. This school board election cycle has seen attack ads, endorsement changes and thousands of dollars in partisan spending amid a shifting education landscape. Green Bay's races are just one example of local school boards becoming more political as candidates face increasing partisanship and partisan hostility. Green Bay's school board race is arguably the biggest local race this election cycle. With that comes partisan endorsements and spending. The race has also seen at least one ad opposing Democrat-backed candidate Jeanette Knill and promoting Republican-backed candidate Katie Gentry. Request your absentee ballot now through March 27! Don't let Knill's playbook take over Green Bay schools—vote Katie Gentry for school board! Posted by The Republican Party of Brown County on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 James Lyerly, Knill and Rick Crosson are currently endorsed by the Democratic Party of Brown County, and Gentry, Elliot Christenson and Alex Mineau by the Brown County Republicans. However, these endorsements have changed since the beginning of the race. Crosson was originally endorsed by both Brown County parties; however, Republicans changed their endorsement to Mineau in late February. This change came after Crosson publicly opposed changes to DEI-related language in district job descriptions, though it's not clear whether they were related. Lyerly, Knill and Crosson each received a $500 donation from the Brown County Democrats and a $1,000 donation from the Green Bay Education Association PAC. Crosson and Knill also received in-kind consulting services and other support from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Gentry received $1,363 from the Republican Party of Brown County — contributions were listed as in-kind, but no information was given on what those funds were used for. She also received nearly $350 from Christenson's campaign. Christenson, himself, received $1,530 from the local Republican party: about $607 of that is consisted of in-kind donations, leaving $923. He also received donations from former school board candidate Darin Kane and Green Bay city Ald. Melinda Eck, among others. Despite being endorsed by local Republicans, Mineau didn't receive any donations from the party. However, he did receive support from former school board member Laura Laitinen-Warren, who resigned last year after the resignation of former superintendent Claude Tiller amid a board investigation. In Howard-Suamico, the Republican Party of Brown County endorsed the three incumbents: Amy Rubright, Allen McGuire and Scott Jandrin. The Democratic Party of Brown County endorsed Pooja Bambha-Arora. One candidate, Kim Moran, is not endorsed by either party. Bambha-Arora received $500 from the local Democratic party and nearly $350 of in-kind donations from the Wisconsin Democrats. She also received a $52 donation from state Rep. Ryan Spaude, who represents Ashwaubenon and west Green Bay. Rubright, McGuire and Jandrin all claimed a filing exemption for candidates who didn't anticipate receiving or spending more than $2,500 per year. Wrightstown has seen input on the Republican side only: Jeff Nelson and Amber Cox were endorsed. Jonathan Curtis and Melinda Lemke claimed a filing exemption for candidates who didn't anticipate receiving or spending more than $2,500 per year. Nelson and Cox didn't claim the campaign filing exemption, but still didn't submit campaign finance documents, according to district clerk Hillary Sweere. Wisconsin, like most states, holds nonpartisan school board elections, but all that means is there's no 'D' or 'R' on the ballot. Local, nonpartisan elections are becoming increasingly nationalized, tying them closer to party politics each year, said Aaron Weinschenk, associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. This partisan-nonpartisan trend is clearest at the state level. This year, the best example is the state Supreme Court race, which may break the $51 million national spending record that was set in the last race in 2023. Nationally known billionaires like Elon Musk and George Soros have thrown their dollars into the ring. The correlation between presidential and Wisconsin Supreme Court election results in 2020 — basically, whether someone voted for the Supreme Court candidate that their chosen presidential candidate or party backed — was the strongest it had ever been, Weinschenk wrote in a PBS article that same year. It's a similar situation at the school board level. People now see even local races as 'battlegrounds,' Weinschenk said, attracting outside groups like Super PACs, social media campaigns and endorsements. It's particularly relevant in Wisconsin, which is a traditional battleground state. 'The fact that there is real competition in many places in Wisconsin (and in statewide races) may amplify partisan politics,' Weinschenk wrote in an email to the Press-Gazette. In addition, with major shifts in education happening at the federal level under President Donald Trump, there's an easy link to partisan politics. Those who support the Trump administration changes generally lean right, while those who oppose them lean left: For example, at a Green Bay candidate forum, candidates' answers to questions on federal issues like the abolition of the Education Department or diversity, equity and inclusion in schools were largely split based on who had donated to the candidates. Contact Green Bay education reporter Nadia Scharf at nscharf@ or on X at @nadiaascharf. This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Partisan endorsements, donations back Green Bay area school board races
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Longmont community rallies for equality on International Women's Day
Longmont community members gathered downtown to rally for a more equitable society on this year's International Women's Day. On Saturday, a large crowd of people met at Sixth Avenue and Main Street in Longmont for the demonstration. The crowd filled both sides of Main Street, with some protesters occupying the median. Protesters gather at Sixth Avenue and Main Street in Longmont to rally for gender equality during International Women's Day on Saturday. (Dana Cadey/Staff writer) Over 250 people had registered for the protest on the event website by Saturday afternoon. Rally coordinator Lyn Lowry hosted a few International Women's Day protests in Longmont before the Covid-19 pandemic, but she said she was surprised to see so many people attend Saturday's rally. 'We need community — we need to support women,' Lowry said. 'We need to do something about misogyny and cruelty, and it's all over the world.' International Women's Day is observed annually on March 8. The day celebrates the accomplishments of women while calling for greater gender equality around the world. While most of the protesters were women, many men joined the Longmont rally as well. Erie resident Paul Crosson expressed his support for women's rights and abortion access. Crosson said it was 'hopeful' to see so many people rallying on Saturday. 'It's educational, and people need to do something with their emotions,' Crosson said. Protesters gather at Sixth Avenue and Main Street in Longmont to rally for gender equality during International Women's Day on Saturday. (Dana Cadey/Staff writer) Many signs displayed messages advocating for female empowerment, including 'Girl Power' and 'Hear Us Roar.' Others focused on separate political topics, such as climate change and fascism. 'It makes me tear up because I think we all feel the same way,' Longmont resident Lynette McClain said. 'It's a lot more than just a women's march.' McClain said she wants the rally to inspire people to be active in political discourse. 'We want to get people involved, and to stand up,' McClain said. 'We need everybody to stand up.' Paula Dyer, another protester from Longmont, spent the week attending other regional rallies, including one at the state Capitol building in Denver on Tuesday. 'My heart is breaking,' Dyer said. 'I'm 78 years old. I never, ever thought this would be our country. And I can't stay away. I have to be here.' She said it was 'so exciting' to see the big turnout at the Longmont rally. 'Longmont cares, and we're proving it today,' Dyer said.
