Riverside Teacher Gets Top Honors State Names Marvin Sather Teacher Of The Year

Hundreds of students at Riverside High School are delighted that the state has acknowledged what they’ve always known - they have one of the best teachers around.

Their English teacher, Marvin Sather, was named Washington state’s Teacher of the Year 2000 on Tuesday at a Seattle press conference held by the state superintendent of public instruction.

Sather, a 31-year teaching veteran, was honored by state Superintendent Terry Bergeson and Seattle Mariner Dan Wilson at Safeco Field, where Sather’s name was illuminated on the baseball stadium’s marquee.

Sather was selected from nine regional finalists, all of whom attended the ceremony.

Sather asked the eight other finalists to join hands with him “because it’s a team effort.”

Riverside’s 690 students learned that Sather had won the award when Principal Mark Gorman made the announcement over the school’s intercom system shortly after 11 a.m.

“You could hear the entire school cheering and clapping,” said Chenal Teichert, a senior who is in Sather’s college prep English class. “He so deserves this and I’m so thrilled for him. We are all ecstatic.”

“It was really exciting,” said Gorman, who also heard the loud “hooting and hollering” reverberating through the hallways. “He is not only a tremendous teacher but just an outstanding gentleman.”

After returning Tuesday night from Seattle, Sather said he still was “in a little bit of shock.”

“I was just pleased to be recognized as a person who works hard and has spent my whole career in education. I’m proud of what I’ve done. It’s also humbling because there are very many bright and gifted and creative people out there,” he said. “Our business is a little different - you don’t feel like you deserve to be singled out. It’s not about winning prizes in education.”

As Sather and his wife, Lynn, drove home to Spokane Tuesday night, he was back to business - correcting 15 or 20 essays while she drove.

Sather has taught English at Riverside High for six years. He also taught English for more than 20 years in Libby, Mont., where he served as an assistant principal for three years.

Sather, selected from hundreds of teachers throughout the state, was nominated by Riverside students, teachers and administrators. In September, he learned he had been named one of nine finalists and traveled to Olympia for interviews with the state selection committee.

Sather’s commitment to learning and his caring nature for students impressed the judges, said Cheryl Mayo, deputy superintendent for learning and teaching for the superintendent of public instruction.

Bergeson summarized Sather’s teaching qualities during Tuesday’s ceremony.

“For more than 31 years, Marvin has guided, molded and prepared young minds with enthusiasm and positive attitude,” she said. “His single purpose is to do everything within his power to help students learn and succeed.”

Teichert said Sather’s teaching has touched her life and taught her how to express herself through the power of words.

“I look at the world differently because of his class,” Teichert said. “He goes above and beyond to teach us English and why it is important. When he goes through Hamlet, he will take his meter stick and it becomes his sword. He loves what he does and that makes us want to love it all the more.”

Sather said he expects a lot from himself and his students.

“I don’t ask students to give any more than I give,” he said. “I come prepared every day. I expect a lot. I give a lot. I try to have something meaningful happen every minute of every (class) period.”

As the state’s Teacher of the Year, Sather will represent Washington at national conferences and speak on behalf of the state’s 65,000 teachers at public events. He also is a candidate for the National Teacher of the Year, which will be announced in January.

In addition to the honor of the title, Sather receives $1,000 and all-expense paid trips to several conferences. He will attend the upcoming National Teachers Forum in Washington, D.C., the Teacher of the Year Conference in Texas in January, a White House reception in April, and an international teacher’s conference at the NASA space camp in Alabama next summer. He and the other eight state finalists will be honored next spring by Gov. Gary Locke at the governor’s mansion.

Staff writer Carol MacPherson contributed to this report.