Marksville Elementary teacher selected for national math/science camp

 

By RAYMOND L. DAYE
 
Kids can learn a lot of cool things in science, and a good teacher can even make math fun. But where do these teachers go to have fun and learn cool stuff that they can share with their students?
 
A few fortunate educators get the opportunity to go to such a place -- the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy.  Felicia Armand, a 4th-grade math/science teacher at Marksville Elementary, is one of only two teachers from Louisiana selected to attend the 2015 academy in the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., July 27-31.
 
“This is a great opportunity,” Armand said. “It will help me learn how to better integrate math and science into my teaching and to grow as a teacher. I intend to learn as much as I can -- not only from the instructors, but from the other teachers there from around the country.”
 
Armand has been teaching at Marksville Elementary for two years, since she obtained her education degree from the online University of Phoenix.
 
Reeling off the towns that have played important parts in her life is almost an atlas of Avoyelles. She is a 1998 graduate of Bunkie High, was raised in Cottonport, works in Marksville and lives in Hessmer with her two children, 13-year-old Gabriella Desselles and 12-year-old Champ Desselles.
 
About the program
The Mickelson-ExxonMobil Teachers Academy is a five-day professional development program for teachers of 3rd-5th grades. Professional golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife Amy partnered with  ExxonMobil to create the Academy to provide selected teachers with the opportunity to enhance their mathematics and science teaching skills and discover new ways to motivate their students in these subjects.
The program began in 2005 for those school districts on the PGA tour or with a significant ExxonMobil presence.
 
In 2008, the Academy expanded to allow opportunities for teachers across the country to apply to attend through the “Send My Teacher” program. Now, at least one upper elementary teacher from each state is selected to attend the summer camp in New Jersey. 
 
The  Academy pays for travel, lodging, food and all other related expenses for participating teachers.
 
Students can nominate their teachers or the teacher can self-nominate to seek the opportunity to learn more about math and science and help to ignite a passion for those subjects in their students. The academy’s curriculum is designed by Math Solutions Professional Development and the National Science Teachers Association. 
 
‘Summer school’
“I heard about the program when I went to a teachers conference in Shreveport,” Armand said. “It interested me so I applied. I got an email April 14, followed up by a phone call at school, telling me that I had been selected.”
 
She is looking forward to “summer school” in New Jersey because she believes it will make her a better teacher.
 
“Even though it takes a week out of my summer, it will be worth it,” Armand said. “I am always looking for ways to improve as a teacher.”
Armand said she enjoys math and science and expects to someday retire as a teacher.
 
She might like to try teaching 7th and 8th grade at some point, but may stay with the upper elementary grades.
 
“I don’t want to teach high school and I don’t want to teach the 1st and 2nd grade,” she noted.
 
She likes the system at Marksville, where she teaches math and science and her team-teacher Christy Lonidier teaches the Language Arts and social studies.
 
“My mentor as a teacher was Nicole Gagnard, who taught here before going to Cottonport Elementary,” Armand said. “I was her student teacher and she taught me a lot about being a teacher.”
 
“She makes it fun”
Student Ian James, of Marksville, said he enjoys class with Armand.
 
“She’s a good teacher,” he said. “She makes it fun.”
 
Armand said her goals as a teacher “are to be a positive role model for the children, to teach them so that they can become a well-educated adult and make something of themselves.”
 
Her personal goals are “to keep my passion for teaching and never stop learning -- that is probably the most important thing for a teacher. Never stop learning.”