Vanessa Bonner Lafeyette Education Foundation Middle School Teacher of the Year Nomination Letter
by Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Zenon
It is my distinct honor to nominate Mrs. Vanessa Bonner, a fifth and sixth grade teacher at Westminster Christian Academy. My first encounter with her dynamic, compassionate, and phenomenal teaching style was six years ago. My oldest son, Corey, was born prematurely with a brain hemorrhage which caused him to lack the ability to process and problem solve quickly. He struggled for more than seven years in school both academically and socially. Many of his teachers did not understand what it meant to have a child who was dyslexic, ADHD, and have a language processing learning difference due to the brain hemorrhage. After several years of trying to inform and support teachers, both my husband and I were becoming discouraged about Corey’s academic progress thus far. Mrs. Bonner was willing to work with him over the summer prior to his entering Westminster Christian Academy in order to prepare him to adjust to the challenges he would face academically. She worked with him tirelessly three times a week for several hours. Over time, Corey’s self confidence began to improve. He grew to respect Mrs. Bonner and began to not only acquire information but retain it in his long term memory. You can imagine how excited we were to see his progress! Corey began to do well in math and science. Mrs. Bonner continued to tutor him throughout the school year and summers until he was in the seventh grade. She has shown him the value of diligence and the rewards that accompany hard work. He has developed a work ethic that is a distinct mark of his character, not to mention his improved level of self confidence. My son attributes much of his love for math to Mrs. Bonner. “She makes it fun and easy to understand,” he says. Corey is now in the tenth grade and still loves math. It continues to warm my heart when, even today, after so many years have passed, his desire to make her proud is still important. He also remembers to remind me about her birthday each year, which I find impressive!
Now we are in 2007 and Mrs. Bonner has blessed me a second time. She now teaches my youngest son, Christian, who is also dyslexic and ADHD. Last year he made poor math grades at the beginning of the year and struggled to stay on task. He was somewhat unmotivated and quickly becoming discouraged. Together, Christian’s teacher, myself, and Mrs. Bonner worked together to design a plan for him to be more successful. Mrs. Bonner graciously volunteered to work with him every day after school. Over a period of time I began to see how excited he was becoming to learn. His math skills began to show improvement. However, this year since she is his math teacher, he is absolutely ecstatic. He wants to do math all the time! Due to her consistent encouragement and belief in his ability, Christian has a joy for math I have not seen in a long time. He never misses an assignment because he enjoys learning. “It’s fun,” he says. He especially enjoys the perks and compliments when he excels. All I hear about is math and Mrs. Bonner! Christian wants to try until he gets the answer. Mrs. Bonner’s motivation has helped him to develop a more diligent attitude towards completing tasks, which is a skill he is now applying to all of his other subjects.
I must share with you an incident I was blessed to witness just last week. I went to see Mrs. Bonner, and as I began getting out of my vehicle, Corey and Christian took off running, yelling her name with the largest ear to ear smiles to hug her. Corey couldn’t wait to tell her how he was doing in school. As I witnessed my children’s actions my heart was warmed to know that someone else loved and cared about them as much as I did. In my heart of hearts, there has been no other who has truly, positively impacted both of my most precious jewels, my sons. I will forever be grateful to Mrs. Vanessa Bonner for all she has done and continues to do for all children. The Lord has certainly given her a quadruple does of the anointing to forever positively touch the lives of children. I only hope one day she will truly know how much she has touched the lives of my family and inspired us all to always strive for excellence. It is my prayer that many other children have an opportunity to have such a dynamic and phenomenal teacher.
|
