Teachers are important, whether you like your teachers or not, they are crucial to society. Without teachers there would be no future leaders, businessman, doctors, lawyers and almost any job that you can probably think of that allows the world to keep spinning. Despite this, society still often underappreciates how important teachers really are. This can cause many teachers to sometimes feel unmotivated or unsure of whether what they are doing is truly making a difference.
Despite this, one teacher that still manages to go above and beyond for her students in the classroom is Shay Cowart. Cowart teaches AP Language and Composition and AP Literature and Composition at Plant and recently won the teacher of the year award (Staff | Plant High School).
But how does Cowart stand out from the many other notable teachers that work at Plant?
It’s because Cowart flips the script and doesn’t just teach students; she learns from them. In Cowart’s classes students aren’t just stuck doing “busy work” or a packet the whole year, Cowart teaches through doing engaging discussions and activities in class so that her students don’t just come to class to get an easy A. Cowart’s teaching allows these students to develop an interest in the material and eventually, understand it too.
When Cowart was asked what motivates her to become so involved with her students, she said, “the main thing is connection, I have over 200 students at Plant and they all have their own diversity and nuances which helps me see so many new perspectives and even causes me to learn new things.”
When Cowart was asked how she decided to become a teacher she said, “I was originally a counselor before I was a teacher but I quickly figured out that I didn’t have enough experience yet to be a counselor so I decided to become a teacher and I realized that I loved teaching so I stuck with it.”
Cowart first started teaching back at Plant back in 2014, but even further back than that she received her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida where she majored in psychology. Additionally, Cowart then went on to get a graduate degree in education so that she could eventually become a teacher.
When asked what drove her to pursue her teaching career at Plant, Cowart said, “Derek Thomas did, he is a dear friend of mine and used to be a teacher here at Plant and he convinced me to work here.”
When asked if she has a favorite class or course that she teaches Cowart said, “I actually don’t, for me the course that I am teaching does not matter as much as the students that make up the class, it more depends on the enthusiasm of the class, especially the students that provide a healthy amount of engagement in class and also do their work.”
When asked what piece of advice she would give to all the students at Plant, Cowart said, “At school and especially throughout life, don’t try to be disingenuous or something that you are not, just be true to yourself and the rewards will come with it.”
Ms. Cowart TImeline at PLant by GAVIN GRIDER