Kelly Blackman

Kelly Blackman was cheerfully stringing colored yarn over a little girl’s shoulders, making a pair of improvised suspenders in her first grade classroom at Mulino Elementary School.

“It’s suspender day,” she whispered. “We are showing our support for a student’s sibling who has cancer. Suspenders are support. Some kids don’t have suspenders, so we are improvising.”

Amazingly, while she busied away finishing up the last pair, her classroom was quiet, even with busy children scattered around everywhere. It was silent reading time, and kids were huddled under their desks, absorbed with their picture books, curled up reading in a tee-pee, stretched out on the classroom carpet or sitting quietly at their desks, all reading away.

“Silent reading is a peaceful time to enjoy a great book, and I like to share the enjoyment with the students when I get the chance,” she said. “Our goal is 10 minutes of quiet reading a day, with nobody saying a word. Today we made it five minutes, which is a great improvement. Yesterday, we made three and a half.”

While conducting a math assessment test, Blackman read out the questions. “Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers to some of these questions,” she said.” They are first grade math problems, and we have only been first graders for 13 days.”

Blackman’s teaching techniques have clearly proved successful, as she was selected last week as Oregon’s Substitute Teacher of the Year.”

 “Substitute teachers provide the glue that keeps the educational process on track,” said Sally Cellers, of the Oregon Substitute Teachers Association.

As a substitute, she said, she liked to take the time in the morning to explain that their teacher had left “awesome lessons plans,” so she would be doing exactly what the teacher would have done, if she were there.

“My best asset as a sub was knowing the kids,” she said. “I subbed so much in the schools that I 

Blackman, the 2014 Oregon Substitute Teacher of the year, was enthusiastically endorsed by the principal of Butte Creek. Blackman will be introduced at the annual statewide conference on Oct. 26 in Forest Grove. She will then be honored at a school board meeting and on both the floors of the Oregon House and Senate on Oregon Substitute Teacher Appreciation Day in May.

OSTA is not the only group to recognize Blackman’s teaching ability. She has been hired this year to teach first grade at Mulino Elementary School. It is the same school, same room, same community as when she attended as a first grader in Mulino.

“My goal/plan is to get these kiddos on their way to being awesome students and loving what school is about,” she said.