COVER STORY 2019 NSDA National Educator of the Year
MARGO BATHA: Leading by Example by Aiden Kwen
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hen asked what being awarded the NSDA National Educator of the Year means to her, Margo Batha responds, “It gives me the opportunity to demonstrate that extracurricular teaching and classroom teaching are not mutually exclusive, but rather two halves of a whole that are completely complementary.” As an AP English teacher and a speech and debate coach for both the Los Alamos Hilltalkers and the New Mexico World Schools district team, Margo considers herself very fortunate for her school district’s institutional support. “I don’t face a lot of hardships as an educator,” she avows. “I am blessed to work in a school district that values education and has more financial resources than many of the school districts in New Mexico and the United States. Los Alamos Public Schools values their educators and gives us the freedom to choose the curriculum that in our professional judgment is best for our students.”
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This freedom is something incredibly important to Margo, evident through her emphasis on empowering students. “With student agency and choice, I can meet all students where they are and I can meet their learning needs,” she explains. “All students feel welcome on the team and in my classroom because they understand that everyone’s ideas are important and that all of us bring valuable thinking to the table. When we allow our students agency and choice, and we model for our students the qualities of integrity, leadership, service, and inclusivity, greatness happens in our classrooms and on our teams.” Despite the support that Margo and the Hilltalkers receive from their community in Los Alamos, she does face particular
challenges. As a teacher in New Mexico, she struggles with her state’s teacher evaluation system, which places a heavy emphasis on results and test scores. However, with the election of a new governor, she says, “We are seeing some positive changes, and I have lots of hope for the future of education.” As a coach in a rural area, Margo also has to overcome barriers that teams all across the country battle on a tournament-by-tournament basis. As many can surely attest, the costs and time investment associated with travel and competition are some of the greatest difficulties associated with speech and debate. “All of our tournaments are at least one or two hours from our school site, which means we often have to stay overnight at
the competition location,” Margo explains. “The travel we must do in order to compete in speech and debate means that we have to make difficult choices in our tournament schedule. That expense is one of the biggest barriers to competition for teams who live in rural areas all over the United States.” She adds that the most challenging part of being a coach is “there’s never enough time to give each of my students the time and attention they need.”
Finding World Schools Success Teaching World Schools Debate in New Mexico also makes Margo a bit of a pioneer. Because the state lacks resources, it has not incorporated World Schools into regular competition. Nevertheless, New Mexico again fielded two district teams at Nationals in 2018, one under Margo’s tutelage. “Teaching students a brand new event was challenging,” she explains. “I had to pull together (continued on page 38)