Ridgeland High School teacher/Co-Mathematics Department Chair Scott Harden is being recognized as the Walker County Distinguished Teacher of the Year.
“Educators made a true impact on my life,” said Harden. “I love being in their shoes now and being able to hopefully impact our youth today.”
Even though he grew up poor, Harden said through education he found opportunity. His teachers in Rossville schools helped him achieve great things through education and athletic opportunities, he said.
Ridgeland High School principal Glen Brown, left, and Ridgeland Athletic Director Craig Parrott, right, present a bucket full of fishing supplies to Walker County’s top teacher Scott Harden, an avid fisherman.
Contributed photoHarden considers himself an “edutainer,” meaning he strives to educate, entertain and engage his students through technology. Through the use of response systems, interactive lessons, iPads, computers, cellphones, document cameras and Promethean boards, his students learn how to be successful in the real world, he said.
“We have embraced technology and have completely changed the way we deliver lessons to our students,” said Harden. “Many times we use YouTube, Khan Academy and other media in order to instruct students and give them alternative methods of discovering the mathematics. We also use Skype to pull in our real world right here. We have skyped with doctors, lawyers, iron workers, machinists, military, government officials and alumni that have made it in the work world. They are able to motivate the students and hook them into the mathematics and the ‘why’ part. This helps to answer the questions students may have about ‘Why do we need to know this?'”
Co-Mathematics Department Chair Mike Afdahl and Harden teamed up with biology teacher Justin Carruth, agricultural science teacher Pete Davis, principal Glen Brown and Walker County Schools Curriculum Director John Parker to build the Ridgeland STEM Academy program. Next year will be the second-year roll-out for the academy.
“We have been working in conjunction with Georgia Tech and Georgia Northwestern on ways of enhancing the program and course offerings to our students,” Harden said. “We are also currently working on ways to incorporate college collaboration through Portal Tutoring Programs offered to our mathematics students in order to raise our achievement.”
Harden believes in traditional values, he said. He builds his classroom around relationships and strives for a caring environment. He makes house visits to get to know students and their parents and earn respect and trust as an educator.
Harden is completing his eighth year teaching at Ridgeland High School. He is also a product of Walker County Schools. He went to North Rossville Elementary School, Rossville Middle School and graduated from Ridgeland.