Cindy Barney, Sarah Jane Adams Elementary

“Thank you for providing this platform to recognize our great teachers. I want to nominate Mrs. Barney, a 4th grade teacher at Adams Elementary. As her spouse, I have observed the entirety of her amazing career and witnessed the many young lives she has touched. I would sum up her method in three words, “Love to Learn”. She sincerely loves her students into learning until they love learning. Their fears, barriers and attitudes toward learning quickly come down. She creates a fun learning environment. She races students in from recess and dances with them when they accidently bump into each other. She dramatizes lessons such as pretending to be a rain cloud and rains water down on students to teach the water cycle. Her enthusiasm about the material she teaches is contagious.

Perhaps her crowning skill is her ability to motivate kids. She knows how to build confidence in them, compliment good behavior and celebrate successes. She also knows how to engage parents and loves meeting with them to coordinate learning. One parent recently sent Cindy this email; “You are amazing! You have been a blessing to our family as a teacher for our boys and we will never forget how much you appreciate your job and cherish our children”. Another wrote, “Thank you for that sweet postcard you sent, it’s apparent that you not only care about your student’s education but also their self worth. We feel fortunate that she has you as a teacher this year”. And one more, “I wanted to thank you so much with your help with **** this year. He brought home his math test today and was so proud of it. His confidence has increased so much this year. You are an amazing teacher and he has had the best school year ever”.

There have been countless other such expressions of gratitude over the years. Cindy’s student’s test scores also reflect successful learning. Even though she is nearing retirement now she continues to attend conferences and CE courses. She recently completed a math coach certification. She is determined to finish her formal career strong. Because she loves learning, so do her students. She secures grants to fund innovations and classroom needs. She works long hours to keep up with the ever increasing demands on teachers. She is all in, the real deal!! At the end of each year, she has the students and parents over for a BBQ to celebrate the year, complete with awards and tearful good byes. She has never sought recognition and it would be grand for her to receive this public appreciation for the amazing work she has done for so many years and for the contributions she has made to the field of teaching.”

-Dean Barney

About Teacher Features on KSL NewsRadio

Teachers are the backbone of our community, and at KSL NewsRadio, we want to highlight the hard work they put in to help their students. 

Do you know a teacher that goes above and beyond? Nominate them today by letting us know how incredible they are, attach their photo, and they’ll have the chance to win a huge prize totaling over $1,000!  

Teacher Feature prizes are generously sponsored by the folks at Cyprus Credit Union, who are dedicated to honoring Utah teachers and uplifting the incredible ways that educators go above and beyond every day.

See past nominations of teachers across the state, and read the official sweepstakes rules here.