Martin, Wick among district Teachers of the Year

Editor’s note: This feature highlights two of the four Teachers of the Year in the Lincoln Parish School District. Look for a story on the two elementary level winners in an upcoming edition.

Courtney Martin and DeEtte Wick both dreamed of being a teacher as children, recalling “playing school” with their toys.

Now they’re both Teacher of the Year in the Lincoln Parish School District.

A math teacher at Ruston High School and an English Language Arts teacher at A.E. Phillips Laboratory School, Martin and Wick were recently named High School and Middle School Teachers of the Year, respectively.

Though they teach different subjects and approach their craft in different ways, Martin and Wick both keep their beloved students at the center of all they do.

Courtney Martin

A long way from playing school in her childhood bedroom, Martin is now in her 14th year on the job, though she said she doesn’t even consider it a job or work. Currently teaching Algebra II and Advanced Placement Statistics at RHS, Martin is driven by love for every student in her classes.

It’s that genuine love and interest in her students that she said sets them up to learn and retain the information they need in her class. It’s part of what she describes as a holistic approach to teaching the entire child.

“I know that my students are not just robots sitting in my classroom — they are people,” Martin said. “And man, are they going through things we cannot even fathom. I want them to see me as a person too, so I share my life with them daily… I genuinely want to know what they got for Christmas or what they ate for lunch.

“I know where they work and what they’re reading and watching on Netflix. These small things often turn into much bigger conversations, which I do not take lightly.”

While striving to earn students’ trust, Martin said she also works to overcome the bad perception of math many students carry with them into high school.

“Math has a negative rap,” she said. “Students hate the subject because it’s ‘so hard’ or ‘so confusing’... I work really hard to turn that around, showing them that math is not hard, and it does make sense. I make connections for them that they’ve never seen or understood before, even if it takes more time than it should.”

In addition to teaching the immediate class content, Martin has a passion for preparing students to excel on their ACT standardized tests.

She assigns weekly ACT prep in each of her classes and builds testing tips into her regular lessons. An ACT Certified Educator, Martin has found that understanding the complex text in which math problems are presented is often harder for students during the ACT than the actual math involved, so she practices breaking down the text with her students.

Outside of her classroom, she’s an ACT tutor for hire, billing herself on her website as the “ACT prep queen.” RHS Principal Dan Gressett said the title is certainly deserved.

“What she can do for kids to improve on the ACT is pretty phenomenal,” Gressett said. “We have her teaching juniors in a math class, and historically, math is one of the hardest subjects to see an increase on the ACT. So in teaching juniors, who are going to be taking the ACT, and teaching a math class, we’ve got her in the right place for sure.”

When COVID-19 changed everything in education last spring, Gressett said Martin was one of the teachers across the district who helped develop the virtual learning plan and taught other teachers how to use the remote platforms.

“We had so many teachers who had no experience with Google Classroom and Zoom, me included,” he said. “(Martin) was instrumental in getting the information together, getting it out and doing the trainings for teachers.”

Martin said she firmly believes that while the subject matter at hand is obviously important, there is much more to teaching, and it starts with loving the students.

“I love my kids — I love their carefully concealed insecurities covered up by silly humor or sarcasm,” she said. “I love it when the light bulb comes on when they figure out what I’ve been saying ... I love it when they come into my room and say, ‘Mrs. Martin, guess what?’ I love their notes, their smiles, their hugs.

“If they leave my room not remembering any math at all, I hope they always remember that I loved them.”

DeEtte Wick

Also in her 14th year of teaching, Wick said she is as confident as ever that she’s doing what God has called her to do.

“Teaching has its ups and downs, but I am motivated by my students,” she said. “They give me energy when I’m out and make the days race by. I work hard to be the best teacher I can be for each of them and in turn get filled up with their energy and love.”

In addition to the students, another of Wick’s passions is pedagogy — the methods and how-to’s of teaching.

That’s why she worked to become certified as a state Content Leader who provides professional development to new and current teachers. Then last fall the state Department of Education selected Wick as a Teacher Leader Adviser, tapping her to work with a team of teachers across the state in reviewing curricula to make sure it lives up to all standards and requirements.

“I applied for this position because I wanted to have a voice as a teacher in the classroom, and this role gives me that voice,” she said. “I know that I have a lot of knowledge and experience to share with teachers, and these roles have equipped me to better help other teachers ... Students only benefit when teachers work together and share success, so helping to support other teachers is a passion of mine as well. I love working as part of a strong team.”

Teaching English Language Arts to seventh and eighth graders, Wick said her role in their lives is to “teach them to think.”

“We work with many different texts throughout the year, and I challenge them to read the text, read between the lines, make meaning, and to understand what an author is saying and what impact those words have on them. So much of what I teach does not have one right answer, so I teach them to read, make claims, and support their claims with strong evidence and concise explanation.”

In her letter nominating Wick for the Teacher of the Year distinction, AEP Director Jenny Blalock said Wick has a natural ability to connect with her students.

“At the end of their eighth grade year, students often comment about how much they learned in her class, as well as how she connected with them personally,” Blalock wrote. “Students in her class feel safe to engage in discussions about the texts they read and to agree or respectfully disagree with others in the class. Her heart and passion for her students and for ELA show in each of her lessons.”

Through all her pursuits and endeavors, the students lie at the heart of it all for Wick.

“Even at my lowest, being in a room full of students makes me my best,” she said. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”