CROW AGENCY — A fifth-grade teacher at Crow Agency Public School received an unexpected surprise when she was awarded a $27,000 grant recognizing her innovative teaching idea: Indigi-STEAM.
Connie Michael had no idea she would be receiving the first-place prize from Voya Financial.
Watch Connie Michael talk about her class and what she plans to do with the money:
Michael has been teaching at Crow Agency Public School for the past 11 years, but her teaching career spans 36 years.
Michael teaches all subjects from math to language arts, and she approaches every subject with a scientific eye.
“I kind of approach everything from a science standpoint. Literacy, math, everything is through the lens of science,” Michael said Thursday.
Her approach incorporates hands-on learning with Indigenous knowledge and Crow cultural elements.
“The students really do well with hands-on. And I'm really kind of digging into the Indigenous community and their native knowledge,” Michael said.
The scientific approach has proven successful for student engagement and academic performance.
“My test scores go up because it shows that they're enthusiastic about science,” Michael said.
Principal Sherry Foote has observed Michael’s impact both inside and outside the classroom.
“What makes Connie so special is, she integrates our students' culture, which then creates meaningful learning, and our students are engaged and have a wonderful relationship with Ms. Michael,” Foote said.
Foote described Michael’s classroom environment as constantly energetic and engaging.
“She's just a phenomenal, creative, compassionate individual, which teaching and learning for her is this second nature,” Foote said.
The recognition came from Voya Financial, a retirement-planning firm for educators, which selected Michael for the award.
“What an amazing award and recognition, because there's so many wonderful things happening here at Crow Agency Public School,” Foote said.
Michael plans to use the $27,000 to improve her ‘Indigi-STEAM’ teaching initiative and share resources with the entire school. The initiative aims to improve Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) learning for students.
“Just to see the look on their faces when they saw that check was, like, that just makes it all worth it,” Michael said.
Despite nearly four decades in education, Michael remains excited about bringing new ideas to her classroom.
“There's a lot of projects that I have in my brain that right now I'm just like, oh my gosh, I can actually do this now,” Michael said.
The funding will benefit students across all grade levels at Crow Agency Public School.
“It's like every grade gets that opportunity. Maybe have a little STEAM lab where they can check things out. And it really-- it just opens up all the sorts of possibilities,” Michael said.
