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Haight in her fifth-grade classroom at Alpharetta Elementary

Alpharetta Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Pamela Haight will be recognized as  the Fulton County School System Teacher of the Year for 2012-13, at a gala in early November.

Haight (BSEd ’08), who was first named the system’s Elementary School Teacher of the Year, and then beat two other finalists for the overall honor.

“I am so proud of Ms. Haight. She is truly a master teacher,” Alpharetta Elementary principal Adam Maroney said in a written statement. “While academics are Ms. Haight’s focus, she recognizes the importance of teaching the whole child and creates ways to connect with and reach each and every student she teaches. She is an asset to Alpharetta Elementary, the community and Fulton County Schools.”

Haight will be recognized with her fellow Employees and Teachers of the Year.

Haight, who earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from UGA, knows that she doesn’t have the quietest class on Alpharetta Elementary’s fifth grade hall, but it is a place where students are excited to be learning.

“As you’re walking down toward my class, you will probably hear us singing at the top of our lungs about adverbs, adjectives or some other part of speech,” she wrote in her Teacher of the Year application essay. “Maybe you’ll see my fifth graders standing on chairs, acting out Hamlet, or dressed all in black with berets reciting original poetry. We are different, but we like it.”

Haight believes that students can be intrinsically motivated if learning can be made fun. She found frustration in how students struggled to learn the material in her class, yet could learn all the words from a Justin Bieber song just a day after it was released. Then she began mixing popular music with her class material and student enthusiastically began learning about parts of speech through tunes such as “The Lazy Adjective Song,” a tribute to a Bruno Mars song, or “Adjectives Modify Verbs,” a parody of a Willow Smith song.

In her years of teaching, Haight also discovered that students are eager to learn if they know their teacher is invested in their learning. She attends their sports games and recitals, and keeps up with former students as they move on to middle and high school. Her excitement in their success helps inspire students to push themselves and apply themselves in class.