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***image1***Dorothy Goff Goulet is the Department of Defense Education Activity’s 2009 Teacher of the Year.
Mrs. Goulet, a 13-year teaching veteran, is a French and U.S. history teacher at Kaiserslautern Middle School in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
She has been serving in DoDEA schools for the past eight years, and in addition to her present assignment, she was an assistant curriculum liaison for social studies in the Kaiserslautern District Superintendent’s Office and prior to that a French and U.S. history teacher at DoDEA’s Guam High School in Asan, Guam.
Prior to entering the DoDEA School System, Mrs. Goulet held a variety of teaching positions in Louisiana.
The DoDEA Teacher of the Year Program recognizes and promotes excellence in education.
Teachers may be nominated by a peer, administrator, parent, student or community member. The DoDEA Teacher of the Year competes for the title of National Teacher of the Year.
The Teacher of the Year Program encourages teachers to take an active part in educational leadership.
As outstanding educators, those selected perform a variety of roles.
They promote the teaching profession and work with school officials to enhance the quality of teaching and the education of DoDEA students.
Dr. Shirley A. Miles, DoDEA director, praised Mrs. Goulet for her accomplishments and her commitment to the organization’s mission and vision.
“Mrs. Goulet exemplifies the commitment of all of our teachers to highest student achievement and continuous improvement in all aspects of education,” she said.
The DoDEA Teacher of the Year selection panel cited Mrs. Goulet’s leadership as the chair of the Kaiserslautern Middle School’s School Improvement and Continuous School Progress Programs.
The panel also referred to the professional development series she leads for teachers throughout the Kaiserslautern District on more than 14 different professional learning topics.
Dr. Margaret Hoffman-Schmidt, of the Kaiserslautern District Superintendent’s staff, echoed praise for Mrs. Goulet’s leadership and commitment to professional development and research.
“Mrs. Goulet’s willingness to be a teacher leader and to work effectively with her team at Kaiserslautern Middle School has translated into the teachers becoming a community of learners. Teachers respect and appreciate a colleague who has ‘walked in the boots,’ and made significant changes in the lives of students, by implementing research-based, cutting-edge ideas,” Ms. Schmidt said.
Mrs. Goulet bases her approach to teaching on her core belief of being thorough in her instruction, her explanation, and her determination that all students will achieve at their highest potential.
“I truly believe that there are always new and exciting ways to get one more student to gain just a little more from one lesson and there is always one more way to explain something so three more students understand a concept more clearly,” she said. “I also believe that fresh ideas keep me energized, and an energized teacher is what every student deserves. Sometimes there is even that magical moment when I find the key to a very tightly-locked door. Those students will remember that moment for the rest of their lives and so will I.”
