The Cleveland City Schools Board of Education announces that Ms. Siema Swartzel, music teacher at Arnold Memorial Elementary School, is one of nine finalist for the 2016-2017 Tennessee Teacher of the Year.
Ms. Swartzel was selected by a panel of professional educators from across the state as The Southeast Region Teacher of the Year.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Cleveland City Schools has a finalist for the Tennessee Teacher of the Year and the second finalist from Arnold Memorial Elementary School.
Mr.
Mike Chai, Arnold Memorial Elementary School principal, said, “Siema is a tremendous educator and truly loves our students. She exemplifies the art of teaching by balancing the needs of the school, curricular content and student engagement in all of her lessons. She provides learning opportunities that students would not get anywhere else. We are proud to have her as a part of our school and system.”
Ms. Swartzel has been a music teacher at Arnold Memorial Elementary School for six years. With 33 years of teaching experience, Ms. Swartzel was recognized by Yale University as a Distinguished Music Educator in 2013 and was a quarter finalist for The Grammy Music Educator Award in 2013 and 2014. She has served as a writer on the state committee to revise standards for music education and the state committee to implement teacher evaluation tool for music educators. She has received sixteen grants totaling $15,000 to develop the music program at Arnold. A beloved teacher to children, Ms. Swartzel created and directs the Elementary Honors Chorus which impacts 125 students in the CCS system each year and the Arnold Trash Can Band percussion group which performs throughout the area.
The Tennessee Teacher of the Year will be announced in October.