Teacher of Year is pretty classy guy

By Tan Vinh
Seattle Times staff reporter

	STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES Dennis Griner draws fellow teachers' applause after he was named Washington's Teacher of the Year yesterday at Seattle's Museum of Flight. Griner teaches history and driver's ed and heads a multimedia program at Garfield-Palouse High School in Whitman County.
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Dennis Griner is usually up by 5 a.m., the first teacher at work and often the one who turns out the lights at Garfield-Palouse High at the end of the day.

But his colleagues wondered if Griner, the U.S. history teacher, driver's-education instructor and multimedia guru at the 110-student school in rural Palouse, in Whitman County north of Pullman, knew how much he is appreciated.

Yesterday the 53-year-old's many contributions to school and community were acknowledged when state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson named him Washington's 2004 Teacher of the Year.

As Griner walked past the other eight finalists to the podium at Seattle's Museum of Flight, his eyes watered and his voice cracked. "It's a humbling experience," he said to a standing ovation.

The 30-year teacher said education was always his calling — not running a school or a district, but working with the students in the classroom. Back at Palouse-Garfield High, the other 13 teachers were ecstatic. "I am so proud of him," said English teacher Alice Rockhill. "He really deserves this, but I never thought it could happen. It's a small school in Eastern Washington."

Since the Teacher of the Year program was established in Washington in 1963, the Palouse School District is the smallest to receive the recognition, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Bergeson said Griner's influence has been felt by his entire community. He has, for example, taught nearly every young adult in the area to drive.

A history teacher, he's known for dishing out difficult assignments — one was exploring how development has affected the town's ground water.

His goal, he said, is to stretch students' abilities "to do things that they didn't think were possible" and then take pride in what they've done.

When he began teaching in Palouse in 1981, the district's multimedia program consisted of an antiquated video camera. Over the years, he helped secure more than 20 grants to build a state-of-the-art program that rivals those in larger school districts with an array of video cameras, multimedia computers and digital equipment, Bergeson said.

Under his guidance, students broadcast all their home games, concerts and other events on the school's cable channels, giving the community a window into the school, colleagues said.

Other finalists for Teacher of the Year were: Amy Davis, Harriet Thompson Elementary, Grandview School District; Philip Brady, Henkle Middle School, White Salmon Valley School District; Emily Garlich, Shelton High School, Shelton School District; and Alison Faulkner, New Frontier Secondary School, Central Kitsap School District.

Also Jill Van Glubt, Eastlake High School, Lake Washington School District; Nancy Rosselli, Badger Mountain Elementary, Richland School District; Vicki Taylor, Chelan High School, Lake Chelan School District; and Barbara Tibbits, Westgate Elementary, Edmonds School District.

The finalists were nominated from each of the state's nine Educational Service Districts. A statewide committee made the final selection. Griner now becomes the state's nominee to be National Teacher of the Year.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com

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