Albuquerque Public Schools
APS’ Don Starr, Mary Kershaw and Cara Heck receive Golden Apple awards for exceptional teaching.
It was supposed to be just another lunch period in a school year filled with them.
Instead, it turned into the best party of Don Starr’s teaching career.
The Desert Ridge Middle School sixth-grade teacher was treated to a community-wide celebration after he was honored with a Golden Apple Award earlier this month.
“The whole school, my family, representatives of the Golden Apple Foundation and old friends all cheered me on as I walked onto the school courtyard,” Starr wrote in an email following the May 16 celebration, which drew nearly 1,000 people, most of them Desert Ridge students. “It was a truly special moment and one I will cherish forever. I was very surprised and grateful.”
Starr, 46, wasn’t the only star in the Golden Apple galaxy. Two other APS middle school teachers – Mary Kershaw of Eisenhower and Cara Heck of James Monroe – also received the honor, which celebrates exceptional teachers who demonstrate excellence in the classroom, in addition to commitment and leadership within their school communities.
“We’re absolutely thrilled by Golden Apple’s recognition of these fine educators. Middle school is such an important piece in K-12 education, and we have many, many wonderful teachers in the sixth through eighth grades. I’m very excited and proud of Mary, Cara and Don,” said APS Superintendent Gabriella Blakey, herself a former middle school principal.
Kershaw teaches eighth-grade English Language Arts and has more than 17 years of experience as an educator. Heck has been teaching for more than 22 years.
Heck, 44, said she always wanted to be a teacher but her focus changed in college from working in an elementary school to middle school.
“I have been able to stay in middle school because the students are so excited about science,” she said. “Every day, I get to have an experience with them that creates wonder, that ‘Ah Ha!’ moment or fun. I am continually amazed at student creativity and how hard students work.
“What keeps me energized are my colleagues,” she added. “They lift my spirits when I'm having a hard day, help to create more engaging lessons that lead to critical thinking, and they love teaching as much as I do. My goal is to continue to grow as a teacher through professional development and collaboration with colleagues.”
Kershaw, who teaches eighth-grade English Language Arts, says she doesn’t so much teach as “facilitate the art of learning” of her students. Nationally board certified, she earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland, where she studied journalism and English.
“Teaching is, by far, the most challenging profession anyone can choose,” she said. “And you must enter into it with a passion and a purpose in order to survive the challenges that are thrown your way every single day. I was offered a career path at USA Today in my 20s, but I realized I could create more positive change in the world through the classroom than I could in journalism. So I decided to teach.
“... I work every day to show the world that public education can be great for our students,” she added. “We just have to be willing to step outside our comfort zone and try something new. My goals? That's an easy one: empower students to cultivate their greatness, create positive change in public education for all students, and empower new teachers, so they not only stay in education but thrive in education. At the heart of it all, it's about helping people and in doing so, positively impacting the world around us.
In all, five teachers statewide were honored with a Golden Apple. Garrett Keith, the choir director and drama teacher at Cleveland Middle School, also was a finalist.
Starr, who graduated from Del Norte High School in 1997, said he was inspired by one of his teachers there, Brad Hall. He received his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of New Mexico and a master’s in instructional leadership from the College of Santa Fe. During his 19-year career at Desert Ridge, he has taught gifted social studies, health, PE and gifted English Language Arts.
“My main goals as a teacher are to give my students the skills and understanding they need to make a happy, successful life for themselves, and to make the world a better place along the way,” he said.