PORTLAND, Ore.—One local middle school teacher won’t have to pay his mortgage for a year thanks to his great work in the classroom.
The $3.7-billion OnPoint Community Credit Union is covering Kevin Topolski’s mortgage bills for the year in recognition of his work at Ron Russell Middle School here, where he teaches English to sixth graders. The local CU is also paying the house payments for two high school band teachers for six months.
Topolski has been deemed a master teacher and is frequently called on to demonstrate teaching techniques for principals and other teachers.
The credit union said it selected him in part because of the way he connects with students: earning their trust, empowering them as learners and spurring them to think critically, The Oregonian reported. The CU also said that he contributed to a huge increase in sixth-grade reading scores at Ron Russell in 2014. The school's year-over-year gains for its students in reading and math were among the biggest in the state last year.
Each year OnPoint picks one winning teacher from the elementary and middle grades in Oregon or Southwest Washington for the mortgage award. It also picks one high school teacher.
“Kevin Topolski’s classroom stands out as exceptionally vibrant, innovative, and inspiring. Kevin teaches in Multnomah County’s lowest income middle school, but you wouldn’t know that if you visited his room,” stated Belle Koskela, David Douglas School District instructional coach and key trainer coordinator, on the CU’s website. “You would find yourself surrounded by young leaders engaged in critical thinking, challenging problem solving and collaborative discourse.”
This year OnPoint split the high school award with two educators, choosing Samuel Ormson and Eric Smedsrud, who share the job of band and orchestra teacher at Mountain View High in Vancouver.
The pair emphasize team building, habit-setting and conflict resolution in the way they teach. Their appeal as teachers has led to 18% of Mountain View students joining the school band or orchestra, the newspaper reported.
“Sam Ormson and co-applicant Eric Smedsrud have developed a system with student experience and achievement at the foundation of every component…,” said Booster President Kristy Murray on the CU’s website. “Their work has created not only a nationally recognized instrumental music program, but also provides an inspiring experience in music for every student and has shaped the lives of the 1000s of students they have instructed. Their innovations to music education are seen at every level of the program.”