Recipient: Mark McLelland

Mark has been teaching for almost 20 years and is now teaching special education at St. Elizabeth Catholic School.

Mark says that he loves teaching because it allows him to be a big kid at heart.  He questions, “is it wrong to be immature forever?!”  He loves kids and they bring him joy especially when he sees them learning something they didn’t expect to understand.  Mark loves having fun and believes that every child should be happy at school, therefore he celebrates every little success whether it is through praise or parties.

He recognizes that many of his students see him as a father figure because they don’t have one outside of school.  It is important therefore to respect all abilities and to let them know you enjoy being with them.

Barbara, a parent of one of Mark’s students wrote:

Mr. McLelland has been given the incredible gift of reaching children at their level.  He is so obviously comfortable and confident in his own skin that these kids are magnetically attracted to who he is and what he stands for. By examining Jake’s interests and innovatively incorporating them into his studies, Mark has made a significant contribution in changing our son’s attitude towards school and studies.

A mother from our school stopped me in a grocery store.  They were having trouble with one of their children.  She asked what medication our son was on because everyone was talking about how much he had changed.  My response was, “although medication is sometimes necessary, the transformation of our son was significantly enhanced by the love, respect, dedication and professionalism of Mark McLelland.