OUTSTANDING TEACHERS OF THE TREASURE COAST
108
The ROOKIE
BY SIOBHAN FITZPATRICK AUSTIN
This may only be Emma Huntley Puttick’s
second year in education but she has
already made her mark. A second-grade
teacher at Imagine South Vero Elementary,
she was named as an Indian River Magazine Outstanding
Teacher of the Treasure Coast. She was
nominated by a parent, Robyn Flick.
“She is an extremely interested and qualified
teacher who wants to cultivate the very best from
her students,’’ Flick said in her nomination. “She’s
dedicated to making a difference in their future and
continually challenges them.’’
Puttick said she was honored by the award. “ I
have high expectations for my students, and I do
not lower them no matter what the circumstances
may be. I have found that if you hold your students
to high expectations, and if you teach your students
to hold themselves accountable, the results are positive.
Another method I have used sometimes when I
find a student that is struggling behaviorally is that
I try finding a special job or responsibility for them.
It gives them purpose, and I often see a change in
their behavior immediately.”
Another reason Flick chose Puttick was the
programs she’s proposing for the school. “This
forward-thinking and hard-working teacher should
be recognized to encourage our amazing teachers to
do more and push boundaries,” says Flick.
One of the programs Flick is referring to is Science,
Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics,
or STEAM, a curriculum based on an interdisciplinary
and applied approach that is coupled with
hands-on, problem-based learning. Puttick learned
about STEAM and other innovative ways of educating
through a master’s program in curriculum and
assessment at Walden University, where she studies
online in the evenings.
“One of my favorite aspects of the program is that
it puts topics into real-life context for students,”
says Puttick. “It shows them how to apply their
knowledge. These areas are important to focus on
together not only because the skills and knowledge
in each discipline are essential for student success,
but also because these fields are deeply intertwined
in the real world and in how students learn most
effectively.”
With so much passion and aptitude for teaching,
it’s surprising to many that Puttick’s career in
education started relatively recently. In college, the
26-year-old double majored in Business Administration
and Hospitality and Tourism Management at
the College of Charleston. “At the time I thought
that I was going to be managing hotels and taking
the corporate path for my career,” she says.
After graduating, Puttick worked in the hotel >>
ED DRONDOSKI PHOTOS
Emma Puttick, who teaches second grade at Imagine South Vero Elementary, initially
pursued a career in hotel management.
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