TEACHER OF THE YEAR
A social studies teacher from the state of California has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year. President Bush presented the award to retired Army officer Chauncey Veatch at a ceremony at the White House last week. The president praised Mister Veatch for serving both the children and the nation well. In accepting his award, Mister Veatch urged others to become teachers. He praised teaching as a way to become part of America's future. He spoke in English and Spanish. Mister Veatch teaches at Coachella Valley High School in Thermal, California. Most of his students have families who speak Spanish. Many of the families are farm workers who move from place to place to pick grapes. Mister Veatch is the son of a military family who also moved often. As a child he once attended five different schools in four states during a single school year. Mister Veatch's students have won competitions on science, spelling and mathematics. They also have earned scholarships -- money to attend universities. This year, half of his thirty-four students said they want to become teachers. Mister Veatch is fifty-four years old. Before becoming a teacher, he served for twenty-two years as an Army officer. He was a medical administrator. After retiring from the Army in 1995, he became interested in teaching. He ask the local school system if he could be a substitute teacher. He had never taught before. Still, the school system gave him a job teaching science and mathematics to middle-school students. Mister Veatch, attended university classes at night, on weekends and during the summers. After three years, he completed the training required to become a permanent teacher.
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