Student Chadwick Edouard works with Kelly Zunkiewicz in her pre-calculus class at Lennard High School in Ruskin. Garrett Mulholland Photo
A math teacher at Lennard High School in Ruskin is among the final 10 nominees for a prestigious $25,000 education award.
Kelly Zunkiewicz is also the only Florida teacher still in the running for the Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice. More than 1,000 teachers had been nominated.
Zunkiewicz, a former teacher of the year at Lennard, teaches pre-calculus and Advanced Placement calculus and is also a math coach, helping other teachers.
“She started here right after college and has gotten better every single year,” said Lennard principal Craig Horstman.
“She has a strong background knowledge of her discipline and knows what she’s talking about. She also has a great personality and can relate to the students. She just knows how to be a teacher. She just has it.”
Launched in 2012, the $25,000 Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice is an annual award for exceptionally effective teachers working in high-poverty public schools. No more than five teachers are awarded the prize each year.
Of the more than 1,000 teachers who were nominated for the prize, 800 applied by writing essays, compiling letters of recommendation and sending in videos. The list of applicants was further whittled by an unannounced visit to the teachers’ classrooms by a member of the prize committee. Zunkiewicz was the only teacher chosen from Florida.
The last step is an interview with the committee that Zunkiewicz completed last week in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was one of 10 finalists interviewed. The committee will announce the winners next week. As many as five can be selected.
Zunkiewicz, a Ruskin resident, said she is honored and excited to be among the finalists.
“It’s a great thing not just for me but for my students and the school,” she said.
Zunkiewicz credits her parents for helping her becoming a successful teacher.
“My mom was a first-grade teacher for 35 years and my dad was a small-business owner, so I saw what they went through and how hard they worked.”
“Ms. Zunkiewicz is an amazing young woman dedicated to our student population,” said Lisa Greenaker, a Lennard science teacher.
Principal Horstman said Zunkiewicz is constantly looking to improve. “She is very reflective about what she is doing in her classes,” he said. “She is always taking professional development courses and not willing to remain stagnant.”
“I just want the best for my students, knowing how hard they will be pushed outside,” Zunkiewicz said. “I have high expectations for them and want them to succeed. At the same time, I have compassion for them. They know I care and understand why I am pushing them so hard because they see the benefit of it. They are wonderful kids and work really hard.”
In addition to receiving $25,000, each Fishman Prize winner participates in an intensive summer residency. They reflect on their classroom practice, explore the larger issues that shape their profession, and write a short paper on the elements of effective teaching. The residency allows the winners to share their expertise with educators across the country without taking time away from the classrooms, where they do their best work.
The prize is named for Shira Fishman, a math teacher currently teaching at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C.
A former mechanical engineer, Shira became a teacher through The New Teacher Project’s (TNTP) highly selective DC Teaching Fellows program in 2004. Her knowledge of math and her passion for teaching have inspired and motivated her students ever since.
TNTP is a national nonprofit committed to ending the injustice of educational inequality. Founded by teachers in 1997, TNTP works with schools, districts and states to provide excellent teachers to the students who need them most and advance policies and practices that ensure effective teaching in every classroom.
