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National Teacher of the Year to speak in La Grande
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Fame has not changed Michael Geisen, a science teacher at Crook County Middle School in Prineville. Geisen, who will speak in La Grande Friday, still packs his own lunch and cuts his lawn with a push mower. There is one difference, though. He now owns more suits and ties. The latter is to be expected. Geisen was named National Teacher of the Year in 2008 and received his award from President George Bush at a White House ceremony.He will be the keynote speaker at a math and science symposium, “Inquiry Outside the Cube,’’ put on by the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The symposium will be at La Grande Middle School. Geisen’s keynote address, free and open to the public, begins at noon. Geisen is beginning his eighth year as a seventh-grade science teacher. “Being a teacher is a great honor,” Geisen writes in a statement about his teaching philosophy. “However, it is also extremely demanding. Every child is different and every day is different. That’s what makes teaching so captivating and challenging. That’s what gets me out of bed every morning — and why I sleep so soundly every night.” Geisen may view his students from a different perspective than some educators. “I don’t regard my students as little kids, or as potential people to be shaped and molded. I see them as fellow human beings, and I love and enjoy them for who they are right now. I encourage them by example to do the same,’’ Geisen said. The award-winning educator first worked as a forester for several years but decided to become a teacher after realizing he was not passionate about forestry. He enrolled at Southern Oregon University and a earned master’s degree in teaching. Geisen is the 58th National Teacher of the Year and the third from Oregon. The National Teacher of the Year Program is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers and sponsored by the ING Foundation. Geisen spent the 2008-09 school year serving as a full-time national and international spokesperson for education, something everyone who receives the National Teacher of the Year award is asked to do. Friday’s math and science symposium runs from 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. Registration will run from 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. in the LMS commons. Specific sessions for grade school, middle school and high school math and science will be presented. Geisen’s keynote address is free but the cost of attending the other sessions at the symposium is $75 for teachers and $25 for students. The registration fee includes lunch. To register, e-mail Molly Smith at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it — Dick Mason
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