Lydia Polson

Tell us why you became a teacher

I became a teacher because I struggled in school and I had no confidence in myself or my abilities. It took me years to realize that I had potential and could accomplish great things. I want to help my students to see their potential much sooner than I did to set them on a path to success and to dream big for themselves.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching experience

A couple years ago I had a group of students who didn’t take school very seriously because most of them didn’t see themselves as achievers and therefore didn’t ever try. I worked with them all year to see that they were ALL capable at learning at high levels. Their confidence grew as their mindsets shifted. By the end of the year 65% of my students were proficient or advanced in math, when the previous year only 29% were proficient. Our class had the highest growth in math in the state of Idaho!

What would you do with the $25,000?

I would use some of it to go towards school supplies. We are in desperate need of functioning calculators, expo markers so I wouldn’t have to constantly supply my own, and new whiteboards for my students as ours are probably 15 years old or so. I would use a large portion of the money to go towards my students’ young activist campaign. They put a fundraiser together to raise money to clean up the vandalism on our playground, and they’d like better security cameras to protect our school.