A Top 10 semifinalist for 2014 Arizona Teacher of the Year, Amy Furman never even intended to be a teacher until she encountered the 1990s evolution of teaching theory to focus on meeting the needs of all students.
Since 2001 Amy has taught 7th grade language arts at Aprende Middle School in the Kyrene Elementary School District, an “A” rated district comprising 25 schools (19 elementary and six middle schools). Amy has been chosen to serve on several district committees, has held many leadership roles and has mentored many student teachers. She was the Tempe Diablos Excellence in Education Teacher of the Year for her district in 2012.
Of being honored as a Top 10 recipient in this year’s Arizona Teacher of the Year, Amy says, “I was very proud and humbled to represent my school, the staff and the district. It drives me to be a better teacher every day.”
But how did she get here? Growing up as the daughter of a high school teacher in a Jewish family that placed a high value on education, Amy had no interest in teaching. An Arizona native, she was very involved at Beth Israel, where she became a bat mitzvah. She spent several summers at Camp Charles Perlstein (now Camp Harry and Daisy Stein) and went to Israel with Hebrew High for the summer after her junior year. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in English literature, with a minor in marketing. “I ended up working at a small educational publishing company,” she says. “I was working with teachers and reading about new ways to teach and meet the needs of all students. It was so exciting. In the ’90s there was a lot of talk about multiple intelligence. I hadn’t thought about that before, though I suppose good teachers have always thought about how to make something interesting to students. I was drawn to the creativity of teaching and the personal interaction and the interactive lessons in those theories.”
So she earned her secondary teaching certificate and began teaching junior high school in the Gilbert School District, where she also served as English department chair for three years before moving to the Kyrene District. The Kyrene Elementary School District (kyrene.org) enrolls approximately 18,000 students in K-8 grades and more than 400 preschool children.
She says that one of the most meaningful parts of her job is mentoring new teachers and working with her colleagues through the new demands and expectations in the teaching profession.
“I really am interested in keeping the profession strong,” Amy says. “It is difficult to be a teacher these days. They (new teachers) need to see they can meet the challenges. And they come in with so much new information, I keep current as well.”
She and her husband, Mike, who teaches at the same school, have two children, Melanie, 13, and Zach, 11. Melanie became a bat mitzvah at Sun Lakes Congregation, where Amy’s mom, Phyllis Novy, is a member. Zach is studying for his bar mitzvah with the congregation’s cantor, Ronda Polesky.
“Judaism is part of our lives even though we are not formally affiliated,” says Amy. “The traditions are important and we honor them in our home.”
She carries her commitment to tikkun olam (healing the world) to her professional life as well. As co-adviser for the school’s National Junior Honor Society chapter, Amy gives back through volunteering and organizing group service projects. Her chapter was recognized nationally as one of the Top 10 Service Projects of 2012 by making and donating fleece blankets to patients at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
