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Dukeshire honored with 2015 Fishman Prize

Date: 6/18/2015

BOSTON – Longmeadow native Erin Dukeshire was recently honored with the Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice.

Dukeshire, who now teaches sixth grade science at Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School, was one of four teachers from across the country to receive the award, which includes a $25,000 cash prize.

The prize was awarded by the New Teacher Project, a nonprofit organization committed to ending “the injustice of educational inequality,” according to the group’s website.

In addition to the cash prize, the four educators will write essays about practices used by teachers in each classroom that help students become successful, which would be published together, Dukeshire said.

“We actually start the end of this month, the day after school gets out [for the summer],” she noted. “We start a month of work ... I think we will at some point, the four winners, we will kind of work together and brainstorm and choose the topic.”

Dukeshire said she has an idea to write about how she helps students “show and tell” their thought processes.

“For example, some ways I might have them use cards or different lab materials to act out or explain to other kids how they think something works or an idea that they have about science,” she added.

When Dukeshire was a senior at Longmeadow High School (LHS), she didn’t know what she wanted to do for her career.

“I actually think I learned a lot about teaching from my teachers in Longmeadow,” she added. “The kids have a routine that they do at the start of all of my classes that I adapted from my middle school Spanish teacher and I think a lot of my ideas about teaching and the need to foster leadership in students and collaboration among students come from my experiences in music classes at LHS.”

Dukeshire said she began the application process in December 2014 and was invited to New York City for a one-hour interview. There were 10 finalists for this year’s Fishman Prize.

“I came home really inspired,” she added. “Hearing the other teachers talk about their classrooms made me want to do more for my students when I got home.”

The majority of Dukeshire’s students are English language learners, a large portion of which come from Hispanic backgrounds, she noted. About 20 percent of students in her classes are African American.

“We spend a lot of time together developing the kids’ language by developing science vocabulary,” she added. “We start every class with either calls or responses where kids come up with rhythms and rhymes and often dance moves to remember new vocabulary words.”

Dukeshire received the news that she had been chosen for the Fishman Prize while she was teaching.

“The principal came into my room while there were students and several of my family members were there,” she added. “The mayor [of Boston, Marty Walsh] came. It was fun to celebrate with the kids.”