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My students enjoyed learning about this award more than I did ! We had just finished up the Roman Road Project on our campus and had held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with cake . They were riding the wave of educational fun . They nagged me daily about the next level of the competition . When would I know if I was named a finalist ? The competition divided up the world into regions ( 10 teachers per region ) and then picked one winner to represent each region in a final round of voting for the winner . I kept telling my students that there was no way I would win .
I learned from Ms . Roy that to change the world you must start with the students
And then … I did . Checking my email one day during class , I learned that I had been chosen as the regional finalist representing all of North and South America ! The voting would begin the next day . I was up against five amazing humans : among them , a teacher in Nigeria who taught his students how to clean water in their town , and another in Turkey who used STEM challenges to connect immigrants with friends . I knew right away that I would not win the top prize , and I did not . But I got some great recognition in the local newspaper , a lovely opportunity to showcase my work , some wonderful books from Cambridge University Press , and a pizza party for my students .
At ACL ’ s Summer Institute , representatives from Cambridge University Press were there to recognize me as a finalist and present me with a lovely award trophy . My students were thrilled to be a part of it all as was I . Seriously , what I do every day is what other teachers do too . I was just lucky enough to have a student write a unique paragraph about it .
Nathalie Roy ( fabricatrix @ gmail . com ) teaches Roman Technology , Myth Makers , and Latin at Glasgow Middle in Baton Rouge , LA . Her students recreate the products and processes of ancient Roman daily life through hands-on history STEM labs and experimental archaeology . They recently built a Roman road style sidewalk through their school . Nathalie just returned from an epic trip to Roman Britain where she gathered information for her classes ’ next big project - designing and making their own Roman sandals .
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