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Most 7-year-olds' work is seen by very few people: mom, dad, a teacher.
But second-graders in Sharon Gallagher-Fishbaugh's class at Dilworth Elementary School in Salt Lake City spent this week working on a project that could be seen by thousands: a video about their teacher who is one of five national finalists for the National Education Association Foundation Awards for Teaching Excellence.
"It's scary," said Cole Smith, 7, of creating a film for such a large audience. "We have to make it really good. We don't want to make it bad."
As part of the award, each finalist's class has to help shoot, edit and conduct interviews for a three-minute movie about their teacher that will be shown at the black-tie awards gala in Washington, D.C., in February. Gallagher-Fishbaugh, who was Utah Teacher of the Year for 2009, could win $25,000 if she's chosen as the winner. She'll get at least $10,000 for being a finalist.
"I'm the teacher I am today because of all the colleagues and teachers I've had in my life," Gallagher-Fishbaugh said. "It's not something I came to myself."
The Utah Education Association (UEA) nominated Gallagher-Fishbaugh for both her excellence in teaching and her advocacy for teachers statewide, said Kim Campbell, UEA president. Gallagher-Fishbaugh has been teaching for 31 years, all at Dilworth. She's also a National Board Certified Teacher, has been a finalist for the Huntsman Award for Excellence in Education,
She said she's thrilled her students get to be part of this award by helping to create a video.
"Not only is this technology preparing them for the 21st century world, but they can have ownership of it," she said of the video. "They're a part of it."
The second-graders recently learned how to edit video with the help of the Pearson Foundation. On Tuesday, the foundation's J.R. Sheetz tried to help two students finish an on-camera interview with Campbell for the video.
Toward the end of filming, Sheetz told the students they had time for one more question.
"Have you ever gone to the beach?" second-grader Porter Templin asked Campbell.
Sheetz gently reminded Templin that he was supposed to ask questions about his teacher.
"What's your best story about Mrs. G?" second-grader Madison White interjected.
Campbell said her favorite story about the teacher is when she saw a picture of Gallagher-Fishbaugh meeting the president.
"I can tell by how she's holding his hand, she's saying, 'Let me tell you about my kids,' or, 'Let me tell you about education,' because that's the kind of thing she would do," Campbell said.
Second-grader Mary Hanks then interviewed two parents about what "Mrs. G" has meant to their kids.
Parent Shelly Roderick said she'll always remember how Gallagher-Fishbaugh called her son at home after he had been disciplined one day for leaving another student out at recess. She said she called to tell him she knew he was sorry and wanted to make sure he was feeling all right.
She said her son wasn't worried about going to school the next day because he knew his teacher still cared about him.
Parent Angie Parkin said Gallagher-Fishbaugh "is famous for her 7:30 a.m. phone calls" to parents about their children's successes and challenges. She said her children loved the way Gallagher-Fishbaugh was always calm and kind.
"She treats everyone the same," Parkin said.
The national winner of the award will be announced Feb. 12 in Washington, D.C.
