Two FHSD Teachers Receive Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award

Posted on 10/02/2019
Emerson Excellence in Teaching


FHSD teachers Kim Linneman and Teresa Swaringim join an elite group of St. Louis area educators selected to receive the 2019 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. This award recognizes teachers for their passion for teaching, their impact on student learning, and their knowledge and creativity in the classroom. The recipients are chosen for their outstanding contributions to the teaching profession and to the students they teach.

Kim Linneman has worked in FHSD since 2004 and teaches English Language Arts at Francis Howell High School. She is a proud alumnus who attended FHSD schools from kindergarten through high school and is also a National Board Certified Teacher. Kim has a natural ability to engage students (and adults) in meaningful activities, diagnose needs as they seek to improve performance and articulate effective solutions that address those specific needs. She has devoted her time to District professional development by serving as an instructional leader to an AP teacher cohort for the past two years and has served as the ELA Department Chair since 2013. Kim’s English Il PLC team has served as a model for successful teamwork throughout the District.

“Beyond the classroom, Ms. Linneman challenged herself in 2018-19 to pilot dignity homerooms for the building,” said FHHS Principal Dr. Dave Wedlock. “Her dignity leadership is evident in her efforts to participate in equity professional development and share her learning through her work on the FHHS PD Committee as well as a District equity trainer.”

Teresa Swaringim began her career at Francis Howell in 2007. She is a dedicated educator who started her career at Central Elementary working as a paraprofessional. She returned to college, completed her student teaching at Central, and then joined the certified staff as a classroom teacher in 2014. Teresa is a member of the School Leadership Team and a Department Chair. She has also tutored students struggling in math skills after school, and teaches a technology “break-out” session to staff to assist them with integrating technology tools into classrooms. She was selected as the Central Elementary Teacher of the Year in 2018 and CE staff members often request to have their own children placed in her second grade classroom.

Mrs. Swaringim is passionate about helping meet the needs of all students, which includes those that come from lower socio-economic backgrounds,” said Stacey King, Central Elementary Principal. “She volunteers on our Adopt-A-Family task force which provides school supplies, holiday gifts, food, and hygiene items to students in need. She understands the impact of making sure that the basic needs of our kids are met so they can reach their full academic potential.”

The Emerson Excellence in Teaching Awards program, sponsored by Emerson, annually recognizes more than 100 educators in the St. Louis metropolitan area – from kindergarten teachers to college professors – who are examples of excellence in their field.

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