Streams teacher named to All-Star roster
May 12, 2020
Streams teacher named to All-Star roster
The timing of the award notification coincided with Teacher Appreciation Week. Mrs. Bogus was nominated by Dr. Claire Miller, Streams principal, and Kristen Wilson, a Streams parent.
“Working alongside Lauren is an honor. She inspires her students to exceptional levels of creativity, designs highly engaging learning opportunities and embraces all students within a nurturing and loving environment,” Dr. Miller said. “Her classroom is a lively place, designed with thought to individual differences and needs, while at the same time fostering a sense of pride in their community of learners, making ‘Team Bogus’ All-Stars!”
Mrs. Wilson, who teaches in a neighboring school district, considers her family doubly lucky that both of her sons have had Mrs. Bogus as their second teacher.
“Mrs. Lauren Bogus is an outstanding educator who makes a significant, positive difference in the lives of her students while they are in second grade and beyond,” Mrs. Wilson said. “Her positive impact stays with her students far beyond the school year they spend in her classroom.”
The All-Star Teachers Program recognizes area educators for their exceptional classroom efforts and positive impact on students. This recognition is dedicated to honoring teachers who are making a significant difference in the lives of students across the region by providing engaging instruction and curriculum, encouraging lifelong learning, and inspiring a passion for education beyond the classroom.
“Mrs. Bogus cares about each child as an individual, meeting them where they are, relating to them and taking them to where they need to be,” Mrs. Wilson said. “She does this by providing engaging instruction across all academic areas, instilling a love of learning in her students and encouraging lifelong learning.”
This past offseason, teachers were nominated through Pirates.com for a chance to be named an All-Star Teacher. Nominations were asked to address ways that teachers demonstrated excellence in the following categories: innovative, outstanding, worldly and academic.
“My son was never so excited to learn about contractions, when he came home so excited that Mrs. Bogus turned their classroom into an operating room, joining words using Band-Aids as apostrophes,” Mrs. Wilson said. “Our boys would come home regularly sharing makerspace designs and creations they completed with Mrs. Bogus using the engineering design process and working as a team with other classmates.”
In addition to a $1,000 classroom grant, each teacher is receiving a $100 gift card for personal use, a certificate to display in their classroom, and an invitation to be recognized for their achievement during an on-field pregame ceremony at a future Pirates game.
“It's easy to be inspired to make learning fun and meaningful when I work at such an amazing district with the best students, families and staff,” Mrs. Bogus said. “To be a part of such a supportive and loving environment at Streams Elementary has truly been such a blessing in my life. I feel so lucky to be able to say that I truly love my job and love coming to work every day.”
The surprise celebration would normally take place at each winning teacher’s respective school, but due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Pirates and their partners worked to coordinate online meetings to surprise each teacher and celebrate their accomplishments.
“We surprised Mrs. Bogus with a fake Zoom training,” Dr. Miller said. “Her mom, dad, husband, son, colleagues, and her students were all there awaiting her and the surprise announcement.”
Also joining in the video call were members of the selection committee, including Pirates President Travis Williams, Pirates infielder Kevin Newman, the Pirate Parrot and Pirates in-game Host Joe Klimchak.
The teacher recognition program is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pirates Charities, Chevron and The Grable Foundation, along with support from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and Intermediate Unit One. A committee comprised of members of the contributing organizations chose the 18 winning teachers from more than 200 nominees.
Six winners were selected from each of three categories that included PreK/Elementary, Middle School and High School. Teachers in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties in Pennsylvania and Brooke, Hancock, Ohio and Marshall counties in West Virginia were eligible to be nominated.
