Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Hawthorne first-grade teacher Barbi Riggs was honored Oct. 7 as Wal-Mart’s Willamette Valley region Teacher of the Year.
Riggs, who is in her fifth year of teaching, received a check for $1,000 for Hawthorne at a “big” school assembly, a plaque and a $100 gift card for her classroom. The honor was a surprise, she said.
“I had no idea,” she said, adding that Hawthorne staffers were contacted in early September, just before the school year began.
Wal-Mart management personnel presented Riggs with her award.
“The kids were really excited because I got a cardboard check,” Riggs said. “I’m very, very honored.”
Newly arrived Hawthorne Principal Ryan Beck said he learned about the award before he had even met Riggs.
“(Wal-Mart) called me on, I think, my second day as principal,” he said. “I had no idea who Barbi was.”
He soon found out, he said.
“She’s a spectacular teacher,” Beck said. “I’m thrilled to have her. We have an amazing staff here at Hawthorne and she’s one of the most amazing.”
He noted that Hawthorne teacher Nancy Keesecker is a previous winner of the award.
Teachers from Sweet Home, Lebanon, Albany, Scio and Jefferson were nominated for the award. Riggs said selections were based on letters sent by parents and, in her case, a child. She said she does not know which of her former students wrote the letter on her behalf.
“They’re keeping that confidential,” she said. She said she’s moved that she made such an impact on a child that they would write on her behalf.
“They got hundreds of letters from adults and one from a child,” she said.
Riggs has taught at Hawthorne since earning her teaching credential in 2003 from Western Oregon State University.
She was a stay-at-home mom before that after moving to Sweet Home in 1992 with her husband Monte, who grew up in Sweet Home. They have three children, Josh, Jake and Emili. They met while they were attending airline school before working at Portland International Airport, she said.
Riggs is a native of Montesano, Wash., a town of 4,000 people on the coast.
“My girlfriends tease me that I got away from a Monte and married a Monte,” she said.
After moving to Sweet Home she got involved at Foster School, where her children were attending, then worked as a classroom aide, which got her interested in teaching. She was hired at Hawthorne when she graduated from Western Oregon, teaching second grade for four years before switching to first grade this year.
“I love primary,” Riggs said. “I love teaching all grades but primary has a special place in my heart.”
Beck said Riggs is a “quintessential” first-grade teacher who “maximizes” students’ learning.
“She’s always positive,” he said. “Barbi has such a rapport with the students, staff and parents. She has a very calming influence. She’s in control at all times but the kids feel respected and safe.
“Wal-Mart couldn’t have picked a better person as Teacher of the Year.”