Angie Walters, gifted and talented facilitator at East End Elementary and East End Intermediate, was recently selected as one of five educators from across the state to receive this year’s prestigious Educator Recognition Award from the Arkansans for Gifted and Talented Education (AGATE).
This award serves to recognize those individuals in the field of education who have made significant contributions to the education of gifted and talented students. Walters was selected from a large number of applicants submitted from all over the state.
In her 24 years as an educator and 11 years as a gifted educator, Walters has served in a variety of roles such as literacy specialist, classroom teacher, and current gifted facilitator.
“Regardless of the role she served at the time, Walters never failed to impact innumerable students and colleagues through her dedicated work,” said GT/AP Coordinator Summer Williams. “In fact, during her first year as the EEI GT facilitator, she was nominated for and selected as the Grant County Elementary Teacher of the Year.”
Fellow gifted and talented facilitator, Sherri DeSoto, considers it a privilege and honor to work alongside Ms. Walters.
“Ms. Walters models excellence to students, and she requires nothing less in return,” said DeSoto. “It’s not just the pursuit of academic excellence that drives Ms. Walters with her students, but also their social-emotional health. Above all, her students know she cares, and this makes her GT classroom a safe place, a refuge, and a starting point from which to soar.”
There is no doubt Walters’s students have soared over the years as they found success in competitions such as Destination Imagination, the Economics Arkansas Stock Market Game, the Young Entrepreneurial Showcase, Quiz Bowl, Chess Club, and spelling bees.
In addition to numerous other professional contributions, Ms. Walters has been a member of AGATE for years and has served as a model teacher in the Sheridan School District’s implementation of its Capturing Kids’ Hearts initiative. She embraces any opportunity to learn how to better serve her students.
When asked about what her role as a gifted educator means to her, Ms. Walters shared a heartfelt story. “Early in my teaching career, the parent of one of my students gave me a plaque. On it were the following words: ‘Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in the seeds.’ My role as a GT facilitator means I get to plant seeds. While my students are with me, I use those opportunities to cultivate the soil and water those seeds so that they begin to grow and develop into seedlings. I may never get to see those seeds develop into fully grown, fruit-bearing plants, but I get to plant the seeds.”