Title: French and Spanish Teacher

Company: Lebanon Junior High School

Location: Lebanon, N.H.

Mrs. Cooney has been Lebanon Junior High School’s spelling bee pronouncer since 1998. She has coached students in all subjects and conducted the quiz bowl competition five times. Her short term goal is to learn the Teaching Proficiency through Reading Storytelling technique, developed by Blaine Ray, in order to help her students to become more fluent in French and Spanish. She attended the National Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling conference at Burlington, in Vermont in the summer of 2006. Upon finding the seminar to be phenomenal, Mrs. Cooney returned each summer for three-day workshops in order to become more confident, and share strategies with other teachers from New England who are using the method.

Ms. Cooney’s long term goal is to strengthen the world language program in Lebanon by increasing the number of students who continue their study of languages at the high school and beyond, and who remain fluent as adults in whatever career path they follow. She also attends workshops on topics that pertain to her professional growth plan. Prior to joining Lebanon Middle School, Ms. Cooney worked as a teacher at Mascoma High School and Hollis High School.