Juliana Discher | Staff Writer
Instead of teaching kids to fly fish and identify bird calls, Language Arts and Words from the Wild teacher Tim King was exploring monuments in the nation’s capital after being selected by his colleagues to represent Mason High School in accepting one of the country’s most prestigious academic honors.
MHS was one of the 279 public schools deemed a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School. This award is based on overall academic excellence or a school’s progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. With the honor, MHS staff were able to vote for a teacher to represent them during the award ceremony in Washington D.C. and teacher Tim King was their nominee.
King has been a teacher at MHS for 33 years. He said he was humbled by the nomination to visit D.C. from November 6-8.
“It felt like a great honor,” King said. “I really admire the teachers that I work with and I feel like there are other people that are more qualified than I am, but they apparently chose me. I wanted to do a good job representing them.”
This was King’s first time in Washington D.C., which made the experience more memorable, King said.
“It was emotional and educational,” King said. “We first went to the Jefferson Memorial and the things written on the walls moved me a lot. One thing was about the importance of public education in a democracy. It reminded me how essential my job is as a teacher.”
King went on the trip with Public Information Officer Tracey Carson, Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline, Principal Dave Hyatt and his wife MMS athletic director Stephanie Hyatt. King said he enjoyed the opportunity to bond with the school officials and share a couple of funny moments.
“One of the greatest things about it was getting to know everyone who I went with,” King said. “One funny incident happened when the woman in charge of the Blue Ribbon danced throughout the award ceremony. Almost everybody who came up to receive their award danced. I like to dance, but I’m not good at it, so I had to try to dance my way across the stage. Dr. Kist-Kline had us try to dab.”
King said the Blue Ribbon ceremony greatly impacted him.
“The ceremony was incredible,” King said. “Teachers talked about how rewarding teaching was which was great because sometimes we forget. My pride for being a Mason teacher and for the country has strengthened. Having people tell me I’m making a difference felt really good.”
King had nothing but gratitude for the staff who allowed him this opportunity.
“I want to thank the staff, not only the teachers but the people who work at the high school, for choosing me to represent them,” King said. “It was a great honor, and I hope I represented them well.”
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