Denison named Teacher of the Year

n She was nominated for the award by her students.

Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader High school teacher Megan Denison introduced her film students during the Nov. 10 school board meeting. Denison received the Bernice Jones Teacher of the Year Award at the 2016 Spring Creek Festival, held at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale in October. Many of her students also won awards in the festival.
Janelle Jessen/Herald-Leader High school teacher Megan Denison introduced her film students during the Nov. 10 school board meeting. Denison received the Bernice Jones Teacher of the Year Award at the 2016 Spring Creek Festival, held at the Jones Center for Families in Springdale in October. Many of her students also won awards in the festival.

Megan Denison, a teacher at the Siloam Springs High School, was surprised by being presented with the Bernice Jones Teacher of the Year Award at the 2016 Spring Creek Festival in Springdale last month.

The film and photography festival for high school and college students in the Midwest was held at the Jones Center for Families in October. Denison's students also took home a total of nine awards from the festival, sweeping at least one category.

Denison and her students were recognized for their achievements at the Nov. 10 school board meeting.

The Bernice Jones Teacher of the Year Award is awarded to a teacher who showcases outstanding service to their students, class, school and community, according to the Spring Creek Festival website, www.springcreekfestival.com.

Denison's students secretly created and submitted a video nominating her for the award. By the time the festival arrived, Denison had heard about the secret nomination but she was still shocked to receive the award.

"I did know I was up for it, but in my mind there's... all these other great, amazing teachers with great, phenomenal programs that have been in the game for a lot longer than I have," Denison said.

As the annoucer gave the background information it became clear that Denison was the award recipient, but her students went so wild she couldn't hear her name being called.

"I was in total shock and disbelief, but in the best possible way," she said.

Denison's prize package includes a Canon T5 digital camera with two lenses and a bag, a Universal Studios Blu-Ray/DVD package with several movies, and patron tickets to next year's Bentonville Film Festival.

Denison is the head of the school's AV department and teaches half of the intermediate film classes, as well as advanced film and advanced AV. She also leads the school's production studio, which is staffed by students. In the nomination video, students shared testimonials about the impact Denison has had on their lives.

"Ms. Denison is one of the best teachers I have ever had the honor of being in their class cause she's not just a teacher; she's like a really good friend to all of us," said student Jonah Jackson.

"In only the two years I've had Ms. Denison, I have noticed just the sheer love she has for her and their future. She actually cares," said student Mason Montgomery.

"She's made such an impact in my life that I can't even begin to describe how much I care for her and how much she cares for her students," said student Monica Zavala.

Superintendent Ken Ramey also appeared on the video and spoke the reason Denison was deserving of the award.

"(Denison is) A career teacher at the high school that has done wonders for our student body and with our programming with the audio visual television program," Ramey said. "She has done such an amazing job of giving students the opportunity to advance their career and learn how to work in front of the camera and behind the camera to make a difference for their future. I think she's a very inspiring and creative teacher."

Denison's students did very well in the festival's onsite competition, winning both first and third place in the short film category, as well as third place in both the news challenge and cellphone short film. During the onsite competition, students were given a prompt, then had to come up with a short film within five hours. Students faced the limitations of not having any props or preparation, and were required to stay on the Jones Center property the entire time.

Denison said she was very proud of her students, especially since they were competing against some of the largest high schools in the area.

"It was really neat to be up against the big schools, and for our kids to take first place," she said.

Siloam Springs High School students won the following awards during the festival:

Broadcast

• Third place for the Monday Show Open -- Alec Vaugn and Trey McFadin

Onsite Competition

• Third place for news challenge -- Alec Vaugn, Conner Broyles and Jackson Knight

• Third place for cellphone short film -- Jonah Jackson and Steven Iglesias

• First place for short film -- Ed Suarez and Will O'Hare

• Third place for short film -- Joey Stout and Will Gambill

• First place for commercial -- Jacob Ritz and Caleb Ellis

Production

• Second place in broadcast writing -- Esther Gowin

• First place in behind the scenes photography -- Luke Tyler

• First place in commercial production -- Jacob Ritz and Caleb Ellis

General News on 11/23/2016