Cambridge University Press International Dedicated Teacher Award Finalist
Nathalie Roy
In March of 2023 , Nathalie Roy got a big surprise . She found out she had been shortlisted for the Cambridge University Press ' s International Dedicated Teacher Award competition . A student had nominated her anonymously . Nathalie picks up the incredible story from here :
One morning at school , I got an email from Cambridge University Press that said " CONGRATULATIONS , you ' ve been shortlisted ," or something like that . The competition seemed a little unbelievable to me . They got over 11,000 nominations , and the nominations are tiny paragraphs . They chose ME out of all those teachers from just this little bit of information ?! Then , I nearly cried when I saw what my student wrote :
“ As a Latin teacher Ms . Roy has a limited amount of students but she makes an impression on everyone she teaches . I changed my school just to be taught by her . She encourages students to learn and makes sure we know that her classroom is always open to those who need a shoulder to cry on . She organizes several STEM projects for her Latin and Roman Tech students , including but not limited to the Roman Road Project where students built a sidewalk that improved the school , the Roman way . Ms . Roy runs a fabulous LBGTQ + club which acts as a safe place for students as well as a Girl Scout troop that does several service projects . She encourages us to never give up and offers several materials to help us improve in her classes . I learned from her to change the world you must start with the students .”
While the nomination mentions limited student enrollment in Latin , the classics program at Glasgow Middle School has actually grown in the past five years to include students who do not take Latin at all . The classics electives that I teach — Roman Technology and Myth Makers — attract students from all programs at our school . They include special education , gifted , traditional , and English-language learners . In fact , Myth Makers saw a record enrollment of 85 students in the 2023-24 school year .
Nathalie Roy
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