Two BTMS Teachers Are Ohio Teacher of Year Nominees

Submitted by Bethel-Tate Local Schools

Robin Clift. Photo courtesy Bethel-Tate Local Schools.

Congratulations to Bethel-Tate Middle School Teachers Paul Glader and Robin Clift on being recognized by the Ohio Department of Education as 2024 Ohio Teacher of the Year nominees.

This program honors, promotes, and celebrates excellence in teaching and the teaching profession.

As nominees, Mr. Glader and Ms. Clift are invited to complete the online application for the regional-level recognition as Teacher of the Year.

Mr. Glader and Ms. Clift were nominated for recognition by a colleague.

Of Mr. Glader, the colleague wrote: Paul is an amazing educator. Paul strives to promote our music department, is a member of the community, and helps music educators across the state. He strives to promote our music department; Paul holds after-school band practice to provide students with an organized chance to practice their instrument and receive more individual support as they need it. Paul also creates promotional videos to encourage students to join starting in fifth-grade and throughout their middle school career.

Paul also promotes the music department by holding our annual talent show (which Paul also created), in which students can sing, play an instrument, or perform any other talent in front of the school! Paul is a member of the community; he recruits colleagues to take part in his promotional videos and judge for the talent show and solos. Paul also holds concerts throughout the year for community members to attend. In addition, Paul is a part of two area-based bands that perform locally.

Paul helps music educators across the state by working with band directors and also mentoring music-education student teachers. Additionally, Paul has presented multiple times at music educator conferences, most recently being his TikTok, “Time’s a Tickin’: Building You Program’s Presence Through Responsible Social Media Usage” presentation at the Ohio Music Education Association’s Professional Development Conference in Columbus, Ohio this year. Paul is an amazing educator, for these reasons and more. It is without a doubt that Paul is an excellent choice for Ohio’s Teacher of the Year.

Of Ms. Clift, the colleague wrote: Robin is an outstanding teacher! She is involved with the community, works to have a top-level curriculum, and is an amazing colleague. Robin is very involved in the community; she takes students to local restaurants as a reward for competitions, and to support local businesses. Robin also makes it a point to visit her students’ various events (soccer games, plays, etc.), even if they occur outside of the school.

Robin works to have a top-level curriculum and will stay after school many days to work with either our Intervention Specialist or the other sixth-grade ELA teacher to plan future units, and activities to be proactive with any potential roadblocks for students. Robin was also a part of our latest textbook committee and provided insight and input on which textbook and supporting resources we used this year, and will use for the next few years for ELA.

Robin is an amazing colleague; she was a huge resource when I moved to sixth-grade and in the years since. Robin is there for me to bounce off ideas for classroom management and content presentation. Robin is also a mentor for the RESA program and provides the same guidance and support to newer educators, which is so crucial in the early years of any educator.

These three aspects of Robin as a teacher are just a few of the many reasons why Robin deserves to be Teacher of the Year, for all of Ohio. Robin has become a staple of Bethel-Tate and deserves recognition of her hard work and commitment to not only our district and community but to her students first and foremost.