Tim Jensen is PA Excellence in Teaching Chair for 2010

4th Grade teacher has suffused learning with quirky lessons and vibrant traditions

May 25, 2010

Tim Jensen was named Parent Association Excellence in Teaching Chair, chosen by a selection committee and announced by Bruce Dennis, Head of School, at a general faculty meeting on Tuesday, May 25, 2010.

Mr. Jensen has been a teacher in the Lower School at Packer for 22 years. He is the guiding force behind the much-anticipated annual 4th Grade excursion to the Ashokan Field Campus, and he organizes the 4th Grade International Fair, one of Packer’s most cherished and vibrant annual traditions. As a member and unofficial leader of FSAC, he has served as a strong source of support to his colleagues and has conscientiously represented their concerns to the school administration.

“Our honoree brings the full force of his personality to his teaching, and there is a palpable energy to his lessons that translates to the children,” Dr. Dennis stated before presenting the award to Mr. Jensen. “Every school has a small handful of individuals who define the entire institution through the force of their personality and the value of their contributions. They create, through their very presence, a sense of institutional history, and develop structures that become the source of legend.”

Most iconic of Mr. Jensen’s legendary contributions to Packer is undoubtedly the “Tiny Lincolns,” his annual celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, in which his 4th Grade students fan throughout the school — in the costume and character of the 16th president — answering questions about Lincoln in the first person.

It was only fitting, then, for his “Excellence” Chair to be presented by two former students — now Packer juniors — in construction-paper stovepipe hats (see photo above).

Upon receiving the Chair, Tim Jensen expressed his gratitude to the assembled faculty, who gave him a standing ovation. “I’ve learned so much from the people that I work with,” he said. “I’ve often told people that if I have a headache, I come to work and it goes away, and I can’t think of many other places where that happens.”

The Parent Association Excellence in Teaching Chair acknowledges and celebrates the professional achievements of one of Packer’s master teachers who demonstrates consistent excellence through his or her ability to inspire and educate Packer students.  Bestowed annually, the Chair has a term of one year.  All full-time teaching faculty who have completed at least five years at Packer and part-time faculty who have completed at least eight years are eligible for consideration. The past four recipients of the award have been Irene Turner, Linda Gold, Barbara Moore, and George Snook.

The Parent Association Excellence in Teaching Chair was established with a $150,000 endowment gift to Packer from the Parent Association in 2005. The funds for this gift were raised over the course of a year-and-a-half, primarily from the “Evening in Paradise” winter fundraiser in April 2005 and two Pumpkin Patch Fall Festivals in 2004 and 2005.