Olympia, (Wash) Highline Big Picture teacher Angie Erdman has been awarded the “Teacher of Excellence” award by The Evergreen State College in Olympia, nominated by former student Andrew Gregory.

Most people remember a particular teacher from elementary, middle or high school, who made a profound and positive impact. That teacher may be responsible for setting certain students on an academic, life or career path. The teacher may have given extra time to students who struggled with a subject, allowing those students to master the subject and pass college entrance exams. Or by listening and paying attention, the teacher may have flagged issues that saved a student’s sanity or life.

Sometimes a student can only recognize a teacher’s influence years later, when entering college, for example.

Because Evergreen places a great emphasis on the art and practice of good teaching, the state college in Olympia asks each of its incoming students to nominate a favorite teacher for the “Teacher of Excellence” award. Student nominations and comments are then shared with the selected teacher via the award.

Said Gregory about Erdman, “Angie takes the time to completely indulge herself into her students lives. She connects to students through engaging in meaningful conversations and sharing her experiences. Angie takes the opportunity to meet one on one with not only her own students but students from other advisories; she goes above and beyond her job description and beyond the title of excellence. Without her I would have not made it through my high school career and Evergreen would not be an option.”

According to Vice President for Academic Affairs, Michael Zimmerman, “Evergreen prides itself on our extraordinary teaching, and we recognize that our students have likely already been inspired by extraordinary teaching. There may be individuals who influenced students along the way and helped bring them to this point, and we value greatly their contributions to the earlier education of our students. We extend our deepest congratulations to Angie Erdman.”