Surprised, confused, and excited. All three were emotions that science teacher Shelby Rosin felt as a band of administrators scurried into her classroom, cameras in hand, to congratulate her on her nomination for the 2024 d214 Ennis Award.
The Elizabeth A. Ennis award, named after the district’s sixth superintendent, is awarded to one teacher or team of teachers each year in order to celebrate innovation in the classroom. This year’s recipient was Prospect’s very own Shelby Rosin.
She was recognized due to her technology-oriented approach to teaching, which reflects her love for tech within the classroom. Although it wasn’t incorporated into the curriculum this year due to time constraints, the particular feat that earned her the award was the utilization of Apple Keynote for the Elephant Poop Lab, which included interactive links to videos relating to the lab.
Rosin believes that there is a different side to the technology that is available to Prospect staff and students that hasn’t yet been exploited to the fullest, and is doing her best to utilize it in a way that goes beyond simply replacing a pen and paper.
She says, “It’s just become a worksheet that’s digitized, and I think there’s value in some of that. But I also think there’s value in students exploring and knowing the technology,” and shares her excitement regarding the new way of teaching the same material, “When they brought this Apple program to Prospect, I was really intrigued by the idea that kids are going to learn about that apps that even just come standard on the iPads that we never use.”
As far as troubleshooting goes, she and her team collaboratively try their best to integrate new softwares and teaching mediums, hoping that everything runs as smoothly as possible. They turn to google and the tech department for issues that can be fixed, and find alternative solutions for those that can’t.
Fellow science teacher Nick Delboccio says, “She really cares about her students. She works really hard to make sure that students have a very good experience learning content. She’s pretty innovative, and looks at activities that we’ve done over the past few years, and modifies them to be more intuitive on the iPad.”
Her efforts are recognized not only by the district and her colleagues, but also by her students like freshman Kaia Manova.
Along with feelings of overwhelmedness and gratitude, Rosin mentioned experiencing impostor syndrome regarding her receiving the award. Congratulations from her community of colleagues, parents of students, and cheerleading parents have made her conscious of her impact on those around her. As an educator, she forms bonds with students not only in her classes, but also on her cheer team, even going as far as to go see their performances and awards for academics and athletics.
Manova says, “She’s so sweet, and she’s also very connected to her students and down to earth. She’s always really helpful and so kind.”
