Montana News
Montana's Teacher of the Year on the challenges and rewards of teaching
With Montana News, I'm Eleanor Smith. Education leaders in Montana selected Teacher of the Year to recognize achievement and innovation in the classroom. This year's winner hails from the small town of Power, Montana, where she teaches middle school English, Spanish, and art. MTPR's Austin Amistoy sat down with Dawn Severs to talk about the award and how teaching has changed in the nearly three decades since her career began. - Well, first of all, congratulations on the recognition. I just was hoping you'd tell us first about how you first heard you'd won Teacher of the Year. - Well, thank you so much. I first found out I was a finalist after filling out the applications and there were four finalists through an email and I was shocked about that. And then later I did an interview in Helena face-to-face and then they said they might surprise whoever won or send an email and I kind of put that out of my mind. And then at school there was a safety assembly and I walked in and I saw my family and then I just knew that something was up and I was very surprised and awed and honored to have this award. - And I understand Mrs. Severs, it's not just a plaque and the nice news stories that come along with the award. Being Teacher of the Year actually has some duties on the national stage as well, is that right? - That is correct. There will be a national application now that needs to be in by the end of the month. I think most importantly that people need to realize it's not a trophy position with teaching. I really don't believe that there are like first, second, third or competitive competitions in teaching. That's not what this is about because even in my own building, there are people that are inspirational, gritty and far more intelligent than I am. It was an opportunity to be a voice for teachers because I feel that teaching is in a bit of a crisis now and we will continue to see that as time moves on. And more than anything, I'm just willing to listen to people and be a voice and get that message out there. But it's certainly not about being the best of the best. It's about being a representative and a voice. - Let's actually talk about some of those challenges facing the teaching profession. You started teaching in power 28 years ago. Obviously a lot has changed since then. How has the teaching landscape changed and what are the most obvious ways that you've noticed? - I believe the landscape has changed not so much in power. I believe that I teach in a utopia where the community is extremely supportive. But I think teachers are struggling with the lack of support overall from administrations and having duties piled on them that they really in their heart want to complete well because that's who we are. We don't have enough time in the day. Too many students with needs that we want to meet but that we can't meet. There's just not enough hours in the day. I think that parents sometimes aren't as supportive as they used to be. Or maybe it's just the lack of understanding or fear of what's going on in the classroom and not being in the classroom maybe as much as they used to. You are welcome in my classroom. You are welcome in the schools. And I think a lot of misunderstandings would dissipate if we just built those relationships before we make opinions or decisions. - Well, obviously there's plenty of challenges facing the field right now. But you have taught in power for 28 years. So there's obviously some great stuff about it too. And I wanted to leave our listeners on that note. What has kept you teaching for 28 years, Mrs. Severs? - The relationships with students and parents and seeing them succeed when they least expect it. And there's been a lot of instances where I really didn't think I got through to a kid. And like 20 years later, I'll get an email from them. Like I remember everything you said and I'm where I am today because I remembered those lessons and that is just invaluable. We all choose a career in life because we wanna make a difference in a certain area of the world. And I don't think there's anything more honorable than fighting for our kids because our kids are our futures. And I was a kid once that needed someone to fight for me and someone saved me. And so there's really not much else I wanted to do in this world, but that's what keeps me going. It's certainly not the paycheck, but it's those relationships and successes. - Once again, the 2025 Montana Teacher of the Year, Don Severs, Mrs. Severs, thanks for chatting with me today. - Thank you so much. - This is MTPR.