September 12-14
An Iranian-born fifth grade teacher has been named Utah’s Teacher of the Year and will now go on to compete for that title nationally.
Mohsen Ghaffari came to the United States at the age of 18 to go to college and become a teacher, despite—or perhaps because of the fact—that neither of his parents ever finished elementary school.
He married a Utah woman he met in college in Delaware and that was what brought him to Utah. But she has not lived to see him honored for his teaching skills. She died in May of multiple sclerosis.
Ghaffari’s mother was taken out of school in the second grade to weave carpets. His father didn’t make it past fourth grade. Yet education was viewed as important to both of them.
“They were highly intelligent people who did not have an opportunity to become educated,” Ghaffari told The Salt Lake Tribune. “I think they were incredibly smart, and they wanted a better life, so their emphasis was on education.”
That emphasis motivated Ghaffari to move to the United States more than 35 years ago to teach. On Friday, the Salt Lake elementary school educator learned he had been named Utah’s 2015 Teacher of the Year.
Ghaffari, 55, said he never expected to be recognized for his work teaching fifth grade. At school, he’s known for always wearing a bow tie to work, as well as being the star of the teachers’ soccer team.
“He deserves it because he’s not afraid to do things that he knows are good for students,” said Ashlee Ekins, a second-grade teacher at North Star Elementary School who helped nominate Ghaffari for the award. “He just really knows what his students need and he stands up for them.”
She said he does a lot of hands-on activities with his students to help them learn material, such as asking them to create models of the earth showing its composition, or to write booklets that they then present at a publishing party.
North Star Principal Lew Gardiner said Ghaffari is a natural-born educator, in addition to being a hard worker. “His class is very well ordered,” Gardiner told the Tribune. “There isn’t any wasted time. The kids know what’s expected and they recognize that he cares about them.”
Parent Antonia Scott wrote: “He goes out of his way to help the kids reach their goals. Besides teaching the core curriculum, Mr. Ghaffari is excellent at teaching life lessons. Kindness and respect are very important to him.”
For a math lesson, he might give small groups of students problems. Ghaffari will have each child take a turn solving the problem while the others watch closely and correct any mistakes. Each child will then have two minutes to explain his reasoning to the group after taking his turn solving the problem.
“I do things based on what their brains are capable of learning,” Ghaffari said.
It’s a strategy that can be helpful for both children who speak English at home and those learning the language, he said. North Star serves many refugee children, and most of the school’s kids come from low-income families as well.
Though Ghaffari was never a refugee, he said, in some ways, he can relate to them as an immigrant. When Ghaffari moved to the United States, he spoke very little English.
He came to America because he wanted to teach. In Iran, he was accepted for college, but in agricultural engineering. He didn’t want to do that.
“I always wanted to be a teacher and I left Iran to be a teacher,” Ghaffari said. “I don’t know if there’s anything else I can do.”
Ghaffari met his wife in college in Delaware. She was from Utah, so that’s where they ultimately chose to live and raise their son, now 23.
Throughout his career, Ghaffari said, his wife was always his biggest supporter, reminding him of how well he teaches. “She never saw or heard any of these recognitions I’m being given,” Ghaffari said. “She always was the one giving me this recognition.”
As Teacher of the Year, Ghaffari wins $10,000 and will advance to the national competition. He also receives an interactive SMART board for his classroom, a laptop computer and a $250 gift card from McDonald’s. Along with the other state winners, he will meet with President Obama in Washington, DC, and get to attend space camp in Alabama in the summer.
Ghaffari was selected from among 21 nominations from school districts and charter schools by a committee with representatives of the state Office of Education, the Utah Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), the Utah Education Association, last year’s Utah Teacher of the Year Allison P. Riddle, principals and superintendents.