Jackson Street Teacher Wins Grinspoon Award

Jackson Street Teacher Wins Grinspoon Award

Kim Gerould, JSS 3rd grade teacher, was awarded a Grinspoon Excellence in Teaching Award at a ceremony and dinner at the Log Cabin on April 26, 2018.  The award honors outstanding Western Massachusetts educators in Franklin, Hampshire, and Hampden counties and seeks to motivate teachers at all stages of their careers to aspire to excellence.

Kim has taught for about 40 years, first in adult education, then with teen parents, and the last 23 years here at JSS.  For the first 8 years, Kim was a bilingual and sometimes ESL teacher, and taught in all the grades.  Then when bilingual education was abolished, she became a 3rd-grade teacher.  She got into teaching because she wanted to work with and advocate for immigrants and refugees, and she also wanted to learn from people from other countries.  That same curiosity about people, both adults and children, keeps her going every day.  Kim is also curious about the world, and teaching makes her a bit of an expert in everything!  One project she’s proud of is her Revolutionary War Living History “Museum.”  Each students takes on a 1700s character from Northampton and experiences history through that person’s eyes.  Outside of school, but totally connected, is her work with Families with Power, a grassroots empowerment project.  A fun fact about Kim is she may be happiest when she’s dancing salsa!