Thermopolis teacher honored with grant for innovative teaching program
Voya Unsung Heroes program helps educators turn creative teaching ideas into reality
September 9, 2017
THERMOPOLIS - Voya Financial, Inc., announced this week that Kristin Ryan, a teacher at Thermopolis Middle School, has received a $2,000 grant as part of the company's 2017 Voya Unsung Heroes awards competition.
Through the Voya Unsung Heroes program, Voya Financial, a leading provider of workplace retirement solutions including savings plans for K-12 educators, awards grants to K-12 educators nationwide to honor their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects, and ability to positively influence their students. For more than 20 years, the program has awarded over $5 million in grants to more than 2,000 educators across the United States.
"At Voya, we are proud to recognize the many teachers who go above and beyond to inspire a love of learning in their classrooms," said Heather Lavallee, president of Tax-Exempt Markets at Voya Financial. "Understanding that we all learn differently, these teachers have developed unique programs to engage the minds of each and every student. This aligns with our desire to help all Americans prepare for their unique financial futures. We are honored to empower Kristin Ryan to continue to impact the lives of young people who will one day be the future leaders of our communities."
According to a Voya press release, Ryan's innovative teaching idea, "TMS Living Wax Museum," focuses on bringing history to life by hosting an event where students dress up as historical or local individuals who have made a positive contribution to society. In preparation, students research and write biographies, prepare 30-second speeches and create appropriate backdrops for their presentations. On the night of the 'Living Wax Museum' event, visitors can see historical figures brought "to life" through student impersonations. In the future, Ryan and her team hope to make this a global project where students record performances and interact online via webcam interviews. Ultimately, their goal is to share this unique way of experiencing history with people around the world.
Ryan, in an interview Thursday said that last year was the pilot program for the Living Wax Museum to see how it would go. "It was one of the most successful parent night events we have ever had. High attendance numbers, high student participation," she said, noting there were only three or four students out of the 100 that were unable to attend the evening event due to illness or other conflicts.
In addition to the historical aspect of the project and event, the students also used the opportunity to raise funds for a student-selected charity. Ryan said they raised about $400 with the funds going to a student's family to help the family with expenses. She said the student had back surgery during the school year.
To raise the funds, Ryan said every person entering the "museum" were given three pennies to activate the characters. They put the three pennies in a basket and could donate more for the charity.
The funds from the Voya grant will be used to make the program more eco-friendly.
She said each student has to have a backdrop that coincides with their character. Last year they used large white sheets of paper. "We found that was extremely wasteful. We're hoping to purchase big rolls of canvas. Then our wood shop students will be creating the frame for that."
As for the idea, Ryan said, "A lot of schools across the country do wax museums and this just took it to a whole new level. Every middle schooler is expected to complete some type of research project and this encompasses so many different content areas. The students were excited because they got to showcase their work. Parents were excited because all of the seventh- and eighth-grade students were involved."
The students begin working on the project early in the school year with the culminating event in April.
She said students work on the project throughout the year, different capacities in different classes.
For her eighth-grade English classes, Ryan said they discuss biographies, what makes a good biographical sketch, citing sources carefully and how to know if the sources are credible. She said some students also interviewed residents at the Pioneer Home for their projects.
Ryan also noted a collaboration with the speech program. "Our seventh- and eighth-graders have the opportunity to team up with the high school speech/debate team under the coaching of Cindy Glasson to practice public speaking skills prior to the Night at the Living Wax Museum. This was a wonderful experience for both our high school and middle school students," she said.
THE GRANT
Selected from a group of more than 1,200 applicants, Ryan is one of only 100 winners across the country who will receive this award to help fund and bring her program to life. In addition, she will now compete with other finalists for one of the top three prizes - an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 from Voya Financial.
Ryan is the only winner from Wyoming this year. Previous area have included Tanya Kienlen of Worland in 2011; Merri Miller of Worland in 2010 with "Yellowstone Adventure"; Tina Krejci of Worland in 2006 with the "Winter Journeys" program; Joel Kuper of Greybull in 2005 with "The Wyoming Ethnobotany Project."
To learn more about this year's winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit the Voya Unsung Heroes website (unsungheroes.com). Applications for the 2018 Voya Unsung Heroes awards are currently being accepted through the website until April 30, 2018.
ABOUT VOYA FINANCIAL®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings - to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13.6 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2016. The company had $517 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2017.