AMHERST — An Amethyst Brook School teacher who embodies the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion in both the classroom and the school community is this year’s recipient of the Roger L. Wallace Excellence in Teaching Award.
Miguelina “Meg” Hernandez, a fourth-grade Spanish language teacher in the Caminantes dual language program, earned the acclaim from the award committee last spring, and she was present to celebrate at a dinner at the Ford Student Center at Amherst College Sunday evening.
Hernandez is the 12th individual to be recognized with the award.
For Paul Wiley, president of the foundation, Hernandez’s skills in both teaching elementary school children and imparting wisdom to them influenced her selection.
“It has a lot to do with diversity, equity and inclusion, and being able to really empower students to be treated fairly and justly and to have them understand what that means across cultures and across ages,” Wiley said.
Award recipients demonstrate the principles of fairness and equity on a daily basis, he added, showing humility and respect.
The award comes with a $1,000 check that can be used at the recipient’s discretion, a small glass trophy and a framed poem “To Be a Teacher,” or “Ser Maestro,” composed in both Spanish and English by the late Angel Niet.
Rep. Mindy Domb, D-Amherst, presented a citation from the state Legislature. In a Facebook post, Domb described Hernandez’s remarks in accepting the award as a “powerful” expression of “her generosity, humility, purpose and profound commitment to her students and to equity.”
Wallace, whose name is on the award, was also on hand for the celebration, along with numerous community members and educators.
Hernandez came to Amherst after 25 years as a bilingual teacher at the Clyde F. Brown School in Millis. Members of the school community brought forward her nomination.
In general, the committee, Wiley said, highlights social justice work in the classroom and curriculum and recognizes an educator’s teaching style and interactions with parents, guardians and caregivers, along with their volunteer work and how they interact with other professionals.
Once the nominating committee selects a recipient based on the strength of recommendations and conversations with principals and administrators, the full board votes.
The first public announcement of the winner comes at the convocation that opens the school year.
The idea for creating the award originated with Wiley’s wife, Pat Romney, who suggested finding a way to recognize a primary school teacher each year in honor of Wallace. They began talking with their daughter, Imani Chapman, as well, and then got buy-in from Wallace to have his name placed on the award.
Wallace retired in 2012 after 39 years at Fort River School.
Once in place, to recognize an elementary school teacher in Amherst or Pelham, the committee did about a year of fundraising and board development to create the $25,000 endowment.
The plaque with the names of the individual winners will be displayed at Amethyst Brook for the next year.
During COVID in 2020 and 2021, no one was selected for the award, but the committee still had a brief presentation in the second year of the pandemic that served to honor all educators.
While tickets for the dinner help support the Excellence in Teaching program, Wiley said the community is welcome to donate to the foundation at any time and can send an email to wallace.teaching.award@gmail.com for more information.
