Wal-Mart Teachers of the Year try to make learning fun as well as educational

  Students who are engaged are students who learn.

  That's why Tom Fell, Ingrid Burton and Lisa Gresham say they not only try to make education educational but make it fun.

  That philosophy may be part of the reason the three were among Yuma County's Wal-Mart stores' Teachers of the Year.

  In a yearly effort to recognize dedicated educators, each store in the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club chain solicits top teacher nominations from its customers and then chooses a recipient from among the nominees.

  Fell, Burton, Gresham and Janna Butler each received $100 gift certificates from Wal-Mart and another $1,000 each for their schools in surprise presentations to them over the past month.

  Meanwhile, Carolyn Cochran, a sixth- through eighth-grade math teacher at Wellton Elementary School, received the same prizes as recipient of the Teacher of the Year award given out by Yuma's Sam's Club.

  Fell, a sixth-grade teacher at Southwestern Christian School, previously won the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year award in 2004 as a teacher at Alice Byrne Elementary School. Earlier this year, he was a finalist for the Teacher of Year honor presented by the Rotary Clubs of Yuma County.

  Fell received his most recent award from the Wal-Mart on 32nd Street in the Foothills. He was nominated by several of his students, Fell said, "so that was very satisfying."

  Fell said he became interested in education during his years as a Yuma police officer, when he had occasion to work in Yuma schools either as part of the DARE anti-substance abuse program or as a school resource officer.

  "Just working in the schools ... I really enjoyed that," he said. And since he had already decided to retire from the police department once he put in his 20 years, education seemed a natural choice as a second career.

  "I was looking forward to teaching, and I thought that was really neat."

  Fell taught at Alice Byrne in Yuma Elementary School District 1 for about 10 years before moving to Southwestern Christian School five years ago.

  As a police officer, "I dealt with kids after they got in trouble," but as an educator, he has a chance to help mold them as productive citizens. "It's a lot more positive this way than being the big bad policeman.

  "Education is important," Fell said. "I try to make it fun. I don't like to see kids who don't like school."

  Burton, a fourth-grade teacher at Rancho Viejo Elementary School, received her award in a surprise presentation on Thursday, her birthday, after being nominated by one of her students' parents.

  "It's nice to get a thank-you back," said Burton, who received her award from the Avenue B Wal-Mart.

  Burton, who joined Rancho Viejo's teaching staff eight years ago after substituting in Yuma schools, says she tries to keep students engaged by relating lessons to popular culture.

  She watches the Disney Channel for ideas to engage students, she said, and she once used the example of a cartoon her students regularly watched to teach them a literary concept.

  "I try to come up with things kids can enjoy and relate to. School is important and it needs to be important, but it needs to be fun."

  Gresham, a second-grade teacher in her sixth year at O.C. Johnson, says teachers can't take a cookie cutter approach to education.

  "Each child learns differently and it's up to us as teachers to find their strengths and work with them," said Gresham, who received her award from the Pacific Avenue Wal-mart

  Gresham recalled the challenge of teaching a lesson about autumn to a classroom of youngsters who are not used to seeing dramatic variations among the four seasons.

  To teach the lesson, Gresham showed her students photos of an Ohio fall taken by her father, and she had them make posters from leaves her mother had sent from Washington state.

  "I try to make things relevant to them and let them know why they're learning."

  Butler, who teaches at Arizona Desert School in San Luis, Ariz., and received her award from that city's Wal-Mart, and Cochran were not immediately available for comment.

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John Vaughn can be reached at jvaughn@yumasun.com or 539-6850.