Grise is top teacher for Indian River schools in 2016

Melissa Grise received a standing ovation and a hug from the president of the school board Friday night, April 16, when she accepted the Indian River School District’s Teacher of the Year Award.

The awards ceremony was held at Baywood Greens in Long Neck.

Grise, a fourth-grade teacher at John M. Clayton Elementary School, joked that she thought she had a 33 percent chance of being called up to the podium. She was one of three finalists for the award, chosen out of a field of 16 teachers.

Each candidate was interviewed, observed and presented a short video, demonstrating their teaching style to 15-member selection committee.

Grise, who began her career at North Georgetown Elementary School upon graduating from the University of Delaware, said that she was humbled by the award.

“I am truly honored,” she said.

Like several of the other nominees, Grise acknowledged that being a teacher these days is. Nationwide, teachers must adhere to federal mandates such as Common Core. Grise is also part of a school district that has seen a nearly 30 percent increase in enrollment during the last 10 years, according to the district.

Part of Grise’s video presentation for the selection committee focused on how teachers need to help each other become better educators. Each nominee had their video shown during the awards ceremony.

“We have a tough job,” Grise said in her acceptance speech. “You have to raise each other up.”

It is that focus on inspiring other educators that led to her selection as the district’s Teacher of the Year. Grise is a member of the John M. Clayton leadership team.

She also mentors student teachers at the University of Wilmington and was selected to represent the school district at the Yale National Initiative. One of the math lessons she developed at Yale was featured on the initiative’s website.

“Melissa is an instructional leader that inspires each one of her peers to reach all of their students, no matter their academic ability or their socio-economic status,” said Charlynne Hopkins, district director of leadership development and the former principal at John M. Clayton Elementary in a written statement.

Grise has been teaching for the district since 2003 when she started at North Georgetown Elementary. She came to John M. Clayton Elementary School in 2010. She has taught both general and special education.

Susan Bunting, the superintendent of the Indian River School District, commended all of the 16 teachers who were honored by their respective schools during Friday night’s ceremony.

“They truly deserve to be signaled out,” she said.

The nearly 800 teachers who work for the district, educating about 10,470 students, could have chosen other professions such as nursing or engineering, but they chose to become educators instead, Bunting said. It is a job with a rocky path in front of it, she said.

“Teachers who inspire realize there will always be rocks ahead of them,” she said.

The best will view those rocks as stepping stones, she said.