Thomas Edison Elementary
Brighton, MA
Ms. Farmer goes above and beyond to let her students know how loved and cared for they are. Many of her students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and year after year Ms. Farmer has gone out of her way (often time out of her own pocket, too) to give her students the best Kindergarten experience imaginable. For example, each Ms. Farmer has developed a meaningful relationship with her local Star Market team, and every November she coordinates a catered Thanksgiving dinner for her students and their families. Multiple K-2 classes have been invited to participate in previous years, and the Kindergarten hallway transforms into a festive, communal dining room for everyone to share a meal together. The students go around sharing what they are thankful for, and the turkey, stuffing, and cornbread are flowing. It is one of the most memorable days of the year for all involved. Furthermore, Ms. Farmer has been known to dress up in Christmas attire and make house visits to each of her students to personally deliver holiday presents and goodie bags. This is a teacher who does not think twice about using her own time and money to bring joy to her students. In the summer, Ms. Farmer personally purchases books, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and beach toys for each of her students as a final farewell gift. She cares about them further than the school’s calendar year. She is a genuine, thoughtful, loving teacher who does the absolute most to make her kids love coming to school as much as she does, and her passion and dedication has been unwavering for 30 years. She deserves to be recognized for all she has done for her students, and all she will continue to do.
Ms. Farmer is not only a veteran teacher but also a vital teacher leader. Ms. Farmer has previously been asked to be a guest lecturer to a large audience of teachers via Zoom where she presented her strategies and techniques for teaching the reading curriculum. Her philosophy largely consists of “making reading fun” and working to reflect her love of reading equally onto her students. She has had great success in this area, and even in her own building Ms. Farmer has been asked to step into other K2 classrooms to mentor teachers during reading instruction. Ms. Farmer is recognized annually, consistently receiving “exceeds expectations” on her evaluations. She takes new teachers under her wing, and her door is always open for questions or to give guidance. She takes on a natural leadership role in her school community, but also leads her K2 department. She puts 110% into her work, and it shows. Ms. Farmer is a teacher who never seeks out awards or recognition on her own, and that makes her all the more deserving of it.
Ms. Farmer has had to overcome many challenges, both within the school and in her personal life. In the past few years, Ms. Farmer has had multiple incredibly challenging behavioral students over the years. One particular student was so violent she ended up with a severe concussion and had to be out of work for two weeks. Even so, Ms. Farmer was able to meet the student where they were at and give them a safe space in her classroom to learn and thrive. With years of special education experience, Ms. Farmer approaches emotionally impaired students with love and acceptance, always going above and beyond to advocate for them and get them the services and help they need, regardless of administrative challenges. Her classroom is truly a safe space, and she makes these students look forward to coming to school each and every day. In her personal life, Ms. Farmer lost both of her parents to dementia over the course of a couple tragic years. The stress of being a caregiver caused her own health to decline. Despite these challenges, Ms. Farmer continued showing up for her students and putting their needs above her own. She sets the bar for how students should be taught and cared for. In addition, she continues to adapt to the ever changing needs of her students. During Covid, she set up a mock classroom in her dining room and continued bringing all the joy and fun to learning on Zoom that she would have done in person. She is constantly coming up with new ways to make the curriculum fun, engaging, and innovative. For example, she networked with a local architect to visit her class during the Our Boston project where students designed their dream city. When the students’ project won the contest, the architect offered to pay to send the class to City Hall to see their design on display, impressed by the enthusiasm for architecture and learning that Ms. Farmer had created within her class. Ms. Farmer is an exceptional teacher and person, and she deserves to be recognized.