I was very surprised and very touched that they all came.”

Karen Moore, Hathaway School teacher

Karen Moore knew she was going to be recognized for being one of only 140 winners nationwide of the national 2018 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

She just didn’t know the little ones would be showing up.

In a ceremony at the start of staff orientation at Portsmouth High School Monday morning, the second-grade teacher at Hathaway School was surprised when several of her former students paid tribute to her in words, video, hugs and flowers. 

The half-dozen students were in Mrs. Moore’s class when she first applied for the Presidential Award in 2015. They are now entering fifth grade at Portsmouth Middle School.

Mrs. Moore was one of only two Rhode Island recipients of the award presented by the National Science Foundation award. She was recognized for her unit on erosion prevention, which included a class trip to the Sakonnet River shoreline.

“Second grade with Mrs. Moore was so much fun,” Andrew Rodrigues said in the four-minute tribute video that was played for a packed audience inside the school auditorium. “Mrs. Moore was the best teacher ever.”

The video, which featured the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” playing in the background, ended with several students facing the camera and yelling, “We love Mrs. Moore!”

Afterward, they each read tributes to their former teacher before handing her sunflowers.

“Everybody learns and grows in all of our classrooms, so we decided to have a little focus on flowers because they grow up to be beautiful, and that’s what our children do,” explained Hathaway Principal Lisa Little.

Mrs. Moore, who’s entering her 24th year as an educator in Portsmouth schools, dabbed away tears after posing for photos with the children in the school lobby.

“I was very surprised and very touched that they all came,” she said. “They were the group that was with me when I applied for the award, so they were in the video that I submitted. They’re the people who inspired me to apply; they pushed me.

“And they never forgot. This is quite a moment.”

She also had some parting words for her former students: “Good luck at the middle school. Show them your greatness!”

Faculty honored

Two other faculty members were also honored at the start of the orientation program.

Middle school teacher Monica Taft was announced as the district’s 2018 NEA Teacher of the Year.

Administrative assistant Heather Rhodes was named the district’s 2018 support staff person of the year.