PAFCS TEACHER OF THE YEAR (2011)
MINDY ROTTMUND
Mindy Rottmund was selected as the Pennsylvania Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Inc. (PAFCS) 2010 Teacher of the Year. Her award-winning program, The Diet Literacy Project, incorporates literacy activities with nutrition to foster healthy development of the body and brain. Rottmund stated, “It’s a ‘no brainer’ we would read and interpret recipes and food labels in a nutrition course. Instead, my students use a unique literacy approach by reading nutrition research, evaluating journals, newspaper articles, and non-fiction books, using their Pennsylvania State Standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.”
Rottmund is a family and consumer sciences teacher at Penn Manor High School in the Penn Manor School District. Rottmund relied on her graduate-level training in brain development and multiple intelligences to create literacy projects that appealed to the many learning styles of her high school students. “My high school students enjoyed collaborating with their partners to write oral presentations and then create Podcasts using computer software they’re familiar with, such as GarageBand.” Rottmund said that First Lady Michelle Obama’s national initiative campaign, “Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids”, reinforces her focus on nutrition. To supplement her course, Rottmund applied for and won her school district’s Education Foundation grant that rewards the creation of innovative educational ideas. She used the grant monies to purchase non-fictional nutrition books, such as Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma Brownell’s Food Fight, and Finkelstein and Zuckman’s The Fattening of America.
Rottmund reaches out to the Penn Manor School District by teaching a summer enrichment program for second through sixth grade students called Summer B.R.E.A.K. (Brain Riveting Enrichment Activities for Kids) and SPLASH (Summer Program for Literacy And Strategies for High school) in the summer for incoming ninth grade students identified as below basic in the eighth grade PSSA Reading/Writing/Listening and Speaking State Standards.
In addition to teaching family and consumer sciences classes, Rottmund is active during the school year as a class and club advisor and a member of the SAP (Student Assistance Program) team. “Helping students make informed decisions about their health and well-being is as essential today as it was thirty four years ago, when I started on my passionate journey as a Family and Consumer Sciences teacher,” Rottmund stated.
As a state winner, Rottmund is now eligible to apply for the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) Teacher of the Year award. The AAFCS National Teacher of the Year award honors exemplary teachers who utilize cutting-edge methods, techniques, and activities to provide the stimulus for and give visibility to family and consumer sciences (FCS) elementary and secondary education. AAFCS and PAFCS focus on providing leadership and support for professionals whose work assists individuals, families, and communities in making more informed decisions about their well-being, relationships, and resources to achieve optimal quality of life.
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