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Show f ' V f 1 i 1 - - J ( 'T, j r s !i ',,,,, RUTH ANN YAHNE Ruth Yahne is Davis County Teacher of Year LAYTON Ruth Ann Yahne, chemistry teacher at Layton High School for the past eight years, was recently named Davis County Teacher of the Year and second runner-up for Utah State Teacher of the Year. Mrs. Yahne has an impressive list of professional awards including includ-ing the Governor's Medal for Excellence Ex-cellence in Science. A graduate of Ohio University, sh has developed de-veloped many outstanding, motivational moti-vational programs that stimulate students. She is the Chem Club advisor at Layton High. Each summer, she and her husband hus-band conduct field trips for elementary teachers into some of the most geological and historical sections of the state. Recertifica-tion Recertifica-tion credit is offered for these . week-long excursions." ' - Mrs. Yahne's philosophy of education edu-cation explains why she has received re-ceived not only professional awards but more important the thanks of hundreds of students who have learned life skills, not just chemistry from this master teacher. - . Her philosophy is that education is for life. "The facts that I teach are not as important to my students as the joy of learning and the knowledge know-ledge of how to learn. It is true that I am required to teach certain things in my classes, but I really want my students to learn to think. "In ten years no one is going to walk up to one of my students and ask them to state the atomic theory, but they may be voting on whether to allow a chemical dump to be placed in their county. They need to be able to understand the problem, maybe research some facts, and be able to draw good conclusions about how to vote. I want them to feel they have the right and the responsibility to voice their opinions." Mrs. Yahne said her students are the future of this country. They will be the taxpayers and the decision makers. They must be able to think on their own. She pointed out that their problems will not be written down in black and white, but will have lots of factors to consider. O CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE Yahne is Teacher of Year CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE "Not only should my students know how to use the thinking process, pro-cess, but they should have a joy of learning. A person does not stop learning once he is out of school but it continues for life. The amount and kind of learning varies from person to person. Reading the newspaper is good, but reading books along with the papers is even better. A person should not usejust one sense to learn. I want my students stu-dents to make observations and learn by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. I want them to use their whole being to learn, enrich, and enjoy." Mrs. Yahne believes the two major ma-jor words for a good teachei are caring and giving. She said a good teacher cares about the students not just while they are in the classroom, clas-sroom, but also outside the classroom." clas-sroom." Students sometimes need to talk to a teacher because there is no one else to talk to that might understand. More than once I've had a student come to me because of a divorce in the family. The kids couldn't talk to their folks but needed someone to just listen to how they were feeling. These kids sometimes just need a rock to anchor to until the storm subsides, and they can get on with their lives. Something as little as saying good morning or smiling at a student can help kids get through the day," said Mrs. Yahne. A good teacher gives of himself and spends that extra time after school to help the student with something he didn't understand in class. The teacher spends the extra time to write that letter of recommendation recom-mendation or to help find a scholarship scholar-ship or to plan the next year's schedule. sche-dule. "Good teachers do that little extra that most people do not even see," according to Mrs. Yahne. "The rewards in teaching are seeing my students go out into the real world and succeed and be happy hap-py in what they are doing. I feel really good to know I've made a difference in their lives. Nothing makes me feel better than a student who sees me in a store and comes up to tell me how easy a college class was because I prepared them so well or to say how much I helped to get them through a difficult time. Knowing that I have helped makes me feel good all over," she concluded. Inn " 7 : i; Within a period of nine months, three Tucker brothers married. This was 55 years ago. All have celebrated or will soon celebrate their wedding anniversaries. Pictured left to right are Kirtley and Erma, Andrew and Hannah and Mable and Jess Tucker. The photo was taken at the wedding reception of Andrew and Hannah's daughter. ;i H- |