Susan Wayman – Kaysville Junior High School

Mrs. Wayman is a kind and inspiring teacher in Junior High. She goes above and beyond with her students. She believes in them and expects them to reach their full potential.

When my son seemed to be slipping in his efforts in her 8th grade English class, rather than just write him off, she took the time to talk to him. She told him she believed in him – that she knew when she first saw him that he would be an excellent student. She looked up his grades in his other classes and saw that he was trying, and even took the time to look up the origin of his name and relate it to his good character. He could tell that she cared about him and came home that day amazed and excited to show her that he could be the student and young man of character that she saw him to be.

At every conversation I’ve had with her I can see that she genuinely cares about my son and all of her students. She loves teaching, is kind and soft-spoken, but expects the best out of her “kids.” We need more teachers like her, especially at this crucial and often awkward stage of life, that are patient and can see the potential in young teens, when they often can’t see it themselves.

Mrs. Wayman is an outstanding person, and I will be forever grateful for her impact on my son. Since that quiet, but life-changing conversation with her, he has bent over backwards to do his best in her class. She instilled in him a belief in himself, and a self-confidence and pride in doing well, which has spilled over to other classes and aspects of his life.

If every teacher took the time and care that Mrs. Wayman does, each child could come to see their true potential and there would be no end to what they could accomplish.

-Tiffany Shapiro