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More than one reason to celebrate

A high school literature teacher is named Teacher of the Week on her birthday.

By RITA FARLOW
Published November 22, 2006

Tracey Keim got a nice surprise from her students for her birthday last week.

The 12th-grade literature teacher at St. Petersburg High School was honored as Tuesday's Teacher of the Week. The weekly program on WTSP-Ch. 10 news recognizes teachers who are nominated by students, parents and members of the community.

Keim said she felt "very special" to be nominated by her kids.

"One boy said he always used to sleep through class, but he looked forward to coming to my class, which was really cool," she said.

The nod from Keim's students came on the heels of a recently released survey showing that only 25 percent of students in Pinellas County think their teachers make school an exciting place to learn. The survey was devised by the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations. About two-thirds of Pinellas' 34,000 high schoolers took the 15-minute survey in late August and early September.

The survey revealed that less than half of the respondents thought teachers respected students, and only a third thought students respected their teachers.

Keim said mutual respect is essential in the classroom.

"You have to respect that they're teenagers. They can carry on a conversation. They know what's going on around them. If they know I respect them for who they are as individuals, through all the highs and the lows, it makes all the difference in the world," she said.

Keim said she likes to have fun with her students, making faces for characters when she's reading. And she thinks talking is the way to resolve conflict.

"As soon as you start yelling at a kid, they just shut you out."

The rookie teacher can relate to her students on another level: She graduated from St. Petersburg High in 1987 before earning a bachelor's and a master's degree from Troy University in Alabama. She is the former co-owner of a local restaurant and was a sexually transmitted disease and HIV counselor for the Pinellas County Health Department before she started teaching last year.

"I did the (Progress Energy) Great American Teach-in three years ago, and as soon as I was there, I knew (teaching) was for me. It's the best thing I've ever done. I love my job."

Keim lives in St. Petersburg with her husband of two years, Cliff, and their poodle, Hank.

[Last modified November 21, 2006, 20:22:35]