BCPS Teacher of the Year 2008-2009:

John Billingslea
In honoring an outstanding educator each year, Baltimore County Public Schools celebrates all 8,000 teachers who make a positive difference in the lives of our students.

Baltimore County Teacher of the Year John Billingslea talks about his passion for teaching

The defining moment of John Billingslea’s life wasn’t his decision to become a teacher, but it led to it.  And in a way, it led to his becoming a teacher’s teacher, and to his being named as the Baltimore County Public Schools Teacher of the Year for 2008-2009.

Billingslea, an Advanced Placement social studies teacher at Franklin High School in Reisterstown, is the first to note how far he has come since that day when in 1976 his “defining moment” struck.  Just 8 years old, he was involved in a terrible accident that nearly ended his life and left him with head and brain injuries.  Doctors told his family that if he survived, he would likely have significant cognitive impairments.

 

BCPS Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston applauds new Teacher of the Year John Billingslea

“Obviously, things turned out differently. But during my time recovering in the hospital, I made a promise,” he told a rapt audience during the Teacher of the Year announcement ceremony on May 5 in an at-times emotional address. “I made a promise that if things turned out all right, I would do something with my life to make the world a better place.

“I chose to become a teacher.”

Now, as Baltimore County’s Teacher of the Year, Billingslea has the opportunity to be the most visible teacher in the county and among the most prominent in Maryland. Representing more than 8,000 educators for the next year, he will compete for the honor of Maryland State Teacher of the Year and appear in dozens of venues to champion what he calls “the artistry of teaching.”

During the May 5 ceremony, Billingslea was congratulated by Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston, members of the Board of Education of Baltimore County, administrators, friends, family, and colleagues, including several former Baltimore County Teachers of the Year.

“For John, as for so many of our past Teachers of the Year, it is clear that teaching is far more than a profession,” said Dr. Hairston. “He writes and he speaks about the tremendous power of the teaching profession, referring to it as a ‘calling to bring good into the world.’ He notes that while one person can only do a small part to influence the world, as a teacher, your influence is magnified time and time again through your students.”

BCPS Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston greets Teacher of the Year finalist Judith Henderson

Added Billingslea, “Barnum & Bailey may have the greatest show on earth, but spend a day in any school house and you would realize that teaching is the greatest profession on earth, even if it feels some days like you’re in a circus.”  

As an educator who has devoted much of his professional life to assisting colleagues in the classroom, Billingslea says he hopes to use “his short time in the center ring” to help improve teacher recruitment and retention and “help in attracting and keeping the best teachers right here in Baltimore County.

“I want to remind teachers of the artistry of teaching, the power of a finely crafted lesson and the ability of self-directed classroom research to promote professional growth,” he said. “(I want to remind them) that quality instruction focused on teaching students to think – to think – can surpass the inevitable challenges posed by standardized testing.”

Also honored during the ceremony were finalists Deirdre Austen, a fourth-grade teacher from Lutherville Laboratory for Science, Mathematics, and Communications, and Judith Henderson, a reading specialist also at Lutherville Laboratory.

BCPS Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston congratulates Teacher of the Year finalist Deirdre Austen

“All three of today’s honorees are lifelong learners,” said Dr. Hairston. “They are enthusiastic about the subjects they teach and the students in their classes, and they understand the power of the teacher-student relationship. These teachers know that they are teaching and modeling for their students lessons – about character, about service, about integrity – that cannot be written in a lesson plan.”

In addition to the title and a plaque, the county’s Teacher of the Year is awarded the use of a 2009 Toyota Corolla for a year, courtesy of the Baltimore Area Toyota Dealers, a Teacher of the Year program partner for 11 years.

Billingslea also will receive state-of-the-art educational technology for his classroom, as well as a new laptop computer for his use during his tenure as Teacher of the Year.
Billingslea, 40, is a 17-year teacher who has taught at Franklin for the past 11 years. There, he teaches grades 11 and 12 in AP psychology and philosophy, has taught grade 9 government, and taught from 1994 to 1997 at Randallstown High School.

New Teacher of the Year John Billingslea inspects his new 2009 Toyota Corolla, courtesy of the Baltimore Area Toyota Dealers

At Franklin High School, Billingslea has helped to build a psychology program from having 16 AP psychology students 11 years ago into one with 130 students today.  His principal, Kathleen Schmidt, credits him with helping the school qualify for its placement among Newsweek’s list of top high schools in the nation. His students alone account for 27 percent of the AP exams administered at Franklin High and, consistently, more than 80 percent of his students pass those rigorous exams.

Billingslea also taught in Oregon and Montana in the early 1990s, and has earned a number of regional and national honors and recognitions, including the College Board AP Teacher of the Year in 2005, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology Teacher of the Year in 2001, and a Target Teacher of the Year semi-finalist designation in 2003.

After the announcement by Superintendent Hairston, Billingslea expressed an emotional appreciation to his students, colleagues, and family – especially to his grandmother Inez Billingslea, who herself was a kindergarten teacher. 

“Every Sunday,” he said, “we would go to her house for an afternoon supper and as she put the sliced tomatoes on the table, she would look me square in the eyes, all 4 feet-nothing of her, and with her little grandmother finger she would gently tap me on the forehead and say, ‘John Leonard . . . always remember that they can’t take this away from you. They can’t take this away.’

“Grandmom, thank you. I remember.”

For more information on the BCPS and Maryland State Department of Education Teacher of the Year programs, please visit: www.marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/programs/recognition-partnerships.

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