Carmichaels teacher receives Crystal Apple Award
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
Abby Jacoby embraces fifth-grade teacher Brittney Bell after Bell was presented the Crystal Apple Award. Bell is one of three educators nationwide to be awarded the Crystal Apple, by School Specialty.
Katherine Mansfield
Students prepared speeches for their teacher, Brittney Bell, as part of the special Crystal Apple Award ceremony. Evan Hixenbaugh’s thoughtful words brought tears to his teacher’s eyes.
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
Brittney Bell, a fifth-grade English and Language Arts teacher at Carmichaels Area Elementary Center, was presented the Crystal Apple Award during a surprise ceremony. Bell is lauded by colleagues, her principal and superintendent as a creative and compassionate educator, and is a favorite among students.
Carmichael’s elementary principal Marc Berry opens a ceremony for fifth-grade teacher Brittney Bell, one of three educators nationwide to receive this year’s School Specialty Crystal Apple Award. “She would be doing wonderful things without the recognition,” Berry said. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
Katherine Mansfield
Joby Pratt reads a speech to his fifth-grade teacher, Brittney Bell, at a special awards ceremony. Pratt and several classmates presented Bell with an apple tree and delivered heartfelt words of congrats to their teacher.
Katherine Mansfield
Brittney Bell’s colleagues offered congratulations to the Crystal Apple Award-winner at a special assembly inside Carmichaels Area Elementary Center’s auditorium. “Part of our fantastic team is Miss Bell,” said Kate Hillsman. “She is now, just like all of you, my favorite teacher.”
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
Brittney Bell, right, hoists her Crystal Apple Award in the air as her fifth-grade class and collagues applaud. Jackie Suchoza, from School Specialty, presented Bell the award and a $500 gift card. Principal Marc Berry also received a gift card from Suchoza.
Katherine Mansfield
Katherine Mansfield
Students celebrate their fifth-grade teacher’s recognition after a surprise Crystal Apple Award ceremony for Brittney Bell at Carmichaels Area Elementary Center.
Bentlee Rayle crowns her fifth-grade teacher Brittney Bell after Bell was awarded the Crystal Apple during a surprise assembly. Students like Bentlee and their families voted daily for Bell, who is one of three educators to be honored with School Specialty’s award. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
Sarah Bell, right, nominated her sister, fifth-grade teacher Brittney Bell, for the School Specialty Crystal Apple Award. Bell was selected as a top 10 finalist, and votes from her students and the Carmichaels community catapulted the educator to the national top three, for which she was presented the award. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
Brittney Bell, center, and School Specialty rep Jackie Suchoza pose with the Crystal Apple Award and Bell’s fifth-grade students after a surprise ceremony. Along with the award and a gift certificate, Bell received an apple tree and teary hugs from her students. (Photo by Katherine Mansfield)
It came down to the wire.
In the final voting hours for School Specialty’s national Crystal Apple Award, presented annually to three educators, Carmichaels Area Elementary Center fifth-grade teacher Brittney Bell was neck-and-neck with another nominee.
“The last day, a ton of people started voting (for another teacher). I was like, ‘Oh, no, I’m not going to win it,'” Bell said, eyes wide as she recounted the close contest. “I guess the kids just rallied. They were calling their distant relatives. They made it happen. I will say about the Carmichaels community: they’re very small, but we’re called the Mighty Mikes for a reason.”
And Bell was presented the Crystal Apple Award for a myriad of reasons. Bell’s twin sister, Sarah, nominated her educator sibling for the award after submissions opened in March. Of the hundreds of nominees, Bell was selected to the top 10, and voting for three winners began April 15.
Winners were announced May 3 – Teacher Appreciation Day – but near the end of the month, Bell had not received her Crystal Apple.
“I was like, when am I getting this award?” Bell laughed. “(Principal Marc Berry) was like, you’re going to get it.”
Bell imagined she’d be presented the award by her elementary principal during a regular school day. But before school let out this year, Berry and Carmichaels Superintendent Fred Morecraft hosted a surprise award ceremony for the Waynesburg University graduate known for her creativity in the classroom and frequent attendance at students’ sporting events and extracurriculars.
Unbeknownst to Bell, Berry and other teachers dressed the elementary auditorium in blue and gold balloons. Powder-blue chairs, for students, faced a royal-blue awards table decorated with an apple tree sapling – a gift to Bell from her class – and the glossy Crystal Apple.
“This award is a wonderful way of recognizing a wonderful human being. Her classroom is magical. What she does for these kids is absolutely pure magic,” said Berry, as he waited for students to file into the auditorium. “She creates a culture of true learning and appreciation and love for ELA (English and Language Arts).”
Bell is famous at Carmichaels for transporting students to other worlds. Once, she transformed her classroom into a construction site, to illustrate deconstructing parts of speech. She’s had students dress like surgeons and perform parts of speech surgery, and recently hosted a mock trial to teach persuasive writing.
“Everything that she does in the classroom is very purposeful,” Berry said. “It’s super engaging because it’s non-traditional. It pulls in elements of collaboration, creativity. It’s done in a way that the kids just feel like it’s a fun activity.”
Fifth graders had fun surprising Bell at the awards ceremony, where several students read prepared speeches that brought tears to their teacher’s eyes.
Bell’s team – Dave Bates, history; Kate Hillsman, math; Crystal Pratt, science; and Tymme Freeman, learning support – got teary-eyed, too, when Joby Pratt said, “They say a good teacher is impossible to replace. Miss Bell, you are impossible to replace.”
The team applauded Bell’s creativity with emotional congratulations, and Jackie Suchoza, strategic account representative for School Specialty, presented the fifth-grade teacher her Crystal Apple Award and a $500 gift certificate.
“These guys talk up a storm about her, about how wonderful she is and the things she does for her students. I couldn’t be happier to give (the Crystal Apple) to somebody that gets so much recognition,” said Suchoza, of Washington.
Bell plans to spend her award money on something her entire team of teachers can use – “They’re so important to me and they make me a better teacher,” she said – and will plant the apple tree in her yard, per students’ request.
After the ceremony, attended by Bell’s sister, mother and grandmother, students smothered Bell in hugs and told the educator she will be missed when students enter sixth grade. One student, Bentlee Rayle, disappeared, returning moments later with her Junior Dance of the Year tiara.
Bell choked back tears as Bentlee placed the sparkly gold crown atop her teacher’s head.
“I’m really surprised. I can’t believe the kids had things prepared and how much planning went into this,” Bell said. “When the door is closed and you’re in front of a classroom of kids and they just are so excited to learn, that’s an amazing feeling. People think of school as this boring thing, but it doesn’t have to be. They get excited and they want to learn. You … just have to interest them in some way. Seeing their excitement about things, it makes everything, everything worth it.”