Puyallup elementary school teacher gains national recognition for creative approach
When Amy Reed-Ferguson was young, her grandmother went to a fruit market in Memphis, Tennessee, every fall.
Her grandmother would purchase a giant box filled with apples, but the fruit wasn’t what Reed-Ferguson looked forward to.
The box that carried the apples was strong and sturdy. Reed-Ferguson would use it as a pretend teacher’s desk. Then, she would line up her dolls on the opposite side, facing the box.
“I would be the teacher, and I would teach them from my apple box,” Reed-Ferguson said. “I have a long history of playing school, and it was just something that I always wanted to do. I love researching ... and then I love to share that information.”
Reed-Ferguson is a kindergarten teacher at Pope Elementary School in Puyallup. In October, she and 10 people from across the country were recognized as PBS KIDS Early Learning Champions. She is also the only Washington state recipient.
Reed-Ferguson will be a part of a two-year cohort where she will participate in “a collection of community building, leadership and professional development activities,” according to a news release.
Through the PBS KIDS Early Learning Championship Program, Reed-Ferguson and her cohort will act as “troops on the ground” to relay suggestions and classroom needs back to PBS KIDS, she said.
Reed-Ferguson said she wants to represent other teachers at the program, so she plans on reaching out to her colleagues at school to ask about things that are lacking or things they want to see more of in their classrooms.
The program recognizes people that make a positive impact on young students. Reed-Ferguson was chosen because of her creative approach to applying resources from PBS KIDS in her classroom, according to the news release.
Reed-Ferguson has been incorporating PBS KIDS into her lesson plans since last year. There was a time she added an episode of “Molly of Denali” in a PowerPoint presentation to help teach students about different Native American tribes.
“It was really unexpected,” Reed-Ferguson said. “I did not know until I became a teacher how hard teachers work and a lot of it goes unnoticed. A lot of it is behind the scenes … I get to be this representative of teachers everywhere.”
In her classroom, Reed-Ferguson likes to incorporate fun activities while learning about her students and their families, she said. She creates learning plans based on her students’ interests, and maintaining their curiosity is her top priority.
There was a time she brought a bunch of pumpkins and squash for her students, and they had to figure out why pumpkins float. She could have given them worksheets, but hands-on experiences are what fires people’s brains up, she said.
“The only reason we’re not still living in caves is because we were curious and interested in the world,” Reed-Ferguson said. “We’re prepping them for the next grade. I want them to have a love of learning. I want them to go into the world and be curious.”
Reed-Ferguson started working with the Puyallup School District in January 2020 as a Kindergarten Academy teacher. The academy gives students a boost before attending kindergarten and runs from January through June.
Reed-Ferguson was teaching in a classroom for the first eight weeks, but had to transition to online instruction when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she said. She created learning plans and videos for her students through a website.
Reed-Ferguson officially started teaching kindergartners at Pope Elementary School in September 2021.
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
