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SIERRA VISTA — If schools didn’t exist, Mary Kohn probably would have invented them. If language arts were not included in their curricula, she would have initiated English as a subject, if not other tongues as well.
What Mary Kohn is a teacher’s teacher, a whirlwind of encouragement wrapped up in a petite frame with a perpetual smile and an eager mind with a lesson plan in hand.
She’s the 2008 Educator of the Year as designated by the 16th annual Cochise County Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering. The presentation was made at a recent Board of Education meeting.
The Buena High School librarian since August, Kohn (pronounced Kaan) previously taught English and remedial reading. She continues instructing students now, but instead of having 140 students for a year, she interacts with the whole student body the full four years.
 Buena High School librarian Mary Kohn is the recipient of the Educator of the Year 2008 Award from the 16th annual Cochise County Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering. (Ed Honda-Herald/Review) |
“I have worked for five or six districts throughout the country,” explains Kohn, but what I like about Sierra Vista Public Schools is the openness to innovation.”
She says that openness comes from “the superintendent to the principal. They want to work with the teachers.”
If she is ecstatic about the school administrators, her exuberance for Buena students is equally great. “The students are wonderful. They are such a good group to work with,” she asserts without any hesitation. “They are open-minded.”
When Buena experienced a campus altercation shortly before school was to begin one day last week, Kohn saw just how maturely the students responded. “Because the kids are so good, it was an absolutely calm day.”
Born in New York City, one of six children of a magazine publisher and Shakespeare-loving mother, Kohn’s family moved twice to New Jersey, as well as once to California, Ohio and two other locations. “I amaze people because I don’t have a New York accent,” she said.
Her parents loved books. While other families added on dens and family rooms to their homes, Kohn’s built a library. The discussion at the family table was led by her mother, and the subject was nearly always Shakespeare.
Kohn received both her baccalaureate and master’s degrees from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Between the two degrees, she was a classroom teacher. She is now an expert in comparative literature and eager to share what she knows.
When she married her husband, Jacob, Kohn found herself teaching in the Virgin Islands. It was a decade of joy in that island paradise until Hurricane Hugo wiped them out. Their son Joshua, now a sophomore at the University of Arizona, and daughter Susannah, a Buena student, were both born in that Carribean wonderland.
Jacob gained management expertise in positions in the islands, as well as in Maryland and Florida.
When the couple visited Reno, Kohn became enraptured with the “purple mountains” abounding throughout the Nevada desert. When a brother-in-law, an executive for Patio Pools, offered Jacob the position of service manager for the Sierra Vista Patio Pools location, the family jumped at the chance. Here were the purple mountains that she had adored. That was 5 1/2 years ago.
Kohn admires Dr. Renae Humburg. “She role-models leadership,” notes Kohn regarding the retiring superintendent. “She visits every class at the beginning of the year, and writes personal letters to every award winner. She’s involved in everything, but lets consensus work, then trusts the decision.” Along with many others, Kohn wonders who can fill Humburg’s shoes.
The award presented by the Cochise County Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering organization “appreciated my enthusiasm about school,” says Kohn regarding the honor.
With a day planned to allow students to experience something of the West in the days of the legendary cowboys, Kohn invited ranch owner David Walker to address 200 kids per period in the school lecture pod. Gen. Bud Strom, another real cowboy, came along to share some of his poetry, while Steve Conroy “sang a beautiful song about unrequited love,” remembers Kohn. Displays of clothing, equipment and other western gear helped the students to visualize the area’s history.
“The kids were enthralled,” admits the teacher.
Fifty entries from Buena students were sent into the school-level poetry competition the organization sponsors. With five scholarships valued at $1,000 each per winner, the students were motivated, but so was Mary Kohn.
Teachers are stimulaters, who stir minds, open closed eyes and unstop silent ears to behold not only what is around them, but to investigate the meaning behind what exists within them.
That’s a good description of Mary Kohn and her many colleagues who awaken the slumbering intellect lodged in these evolving youths.
It’s one more time to haul out the bumper sticker that admonishes us: If you can read this, thank a teacher. This time that teacher’s name is Mary Kohn.
DICK ANDERSEN is a retired minister and local writer.
Rosalie wrote on Feb 3, 2008 2:25 PM: