Washington Middle School Teacher Kaylin Bade Named SDOW, WINGS Teacher of the Year
Kaylin Bade, agricultural science teacher at Washington Middle School, has been named the School District of Washington and WINGS Teacher of the Year.
Bade has been in education for eight years, all with the School District of Washington. She spent her first year at the high school before moving to the middle school for the last seven years.
WINGS recognizes a teacher of the year from the School District of Washington each year. The recipient receives a plaque and a check for $1,000.
Bade is now eligible for the Regional Teacher of the Year. The Regional Teacher of the Year will then be in the running for the State Teacher of the Year.
“I do this for my students, not for the awards. I want them to walk away with things that they can either use in the future or at least knowledge of how the world works,” Bade said. “To be recognized for doing that and for what is my life passion is just incredible.”
Anyone had the opportunity to submit a nomination for the School District of Washington and WINGS Teacher of the Year.
SDOW Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Kephart and a committee reviewed the nominations and submitted a group of finalists to the WINGS Board, who selected the winner.
“We are thrilled to recognize Mrs. Bade as our Teacher of the Year,” Kephart said. “Mrs. Bade provides daily learning that fosters high engagement and hands-on experiences for her students. Students in her class are able to explore aspects of FFA such as raising chickens, making deer sausage, cooking with class-grown vegetables, and much more. We congratulate her on the award.”
Bade found out about the award at the middle during an assembly on Wednesday, April 19. District administrators and members of WINGS were on hand to make the announcement.
“As you could tell from my reaction at the assembly, I was shocked. It was awesome that the students were there to see it,” Bade said.
“Mrs. Bade has developed her agricultural science classroom into a place of discovery and real life skills learning. Students have raised fowl, learned to render lard, canned foods, grown a variety of small crops, cooked full meals for staff, and most importantly, taught students life-long skills in agriculture and public speaking,” said Washington Middle School Principal Laura Bruckerhoff. “Kaylin also takes the time to show students through hands on field trips and guest visits that giving back to the community is important. Kaylin uses her own resources and gives hours of her time to provide the best instruction and experiences to her students. I am proud to have Mrs. Bade at WMS and look forward to seeing what she will provide to our students in the future.”
Bade was a full-time language arts teacher for her first five years at the middle school. Last year, she started teaching agricultural science on a part-time basis. This is the first year she’s taught agricultural science full time.
“I started FFA (Future Farmers of America) here in 2017. That got everything moving in this direction,” Bade said. “Agriculture is my life. I’m the fifth generation on our family farm that’s been in my family for over 100 years. Doing what I love and teaching what I love is a dream job for sure.”
Bade grew up on her family farm in the Beaufort area. She’s a Union High School graduate and has Bachelor’s degrees in English and secondary education from Missouri Baptist University.
“I felt like I needed to do something in my career that was helping someone else. After high school, I went to East Central College for culinary arts for a year because I just didn’t know what I wanted to do. And then I got married and had regular jobs,” Bade said. “Finally I told my husband that I couldn’t do this anymore. I wasn’t helping anyone. I wasn’t making a difference. So I told my parents that I was going back to college because I wanted to get into education, and my mom said that she always knew that I’d be a teacher. I knew that helping kids was a perfect way for me to make a difference."
Teaching at the middle school is a perfect fit for Bade.
“I love this age, which originally I didn’t think I would coming from the high school because I always intended on teaching high school students,” Bade said. “Middle school students, at this age, are ready to jump in to anything and they’re still open minded. They haven’t made their decision on life yet. So they’re more impressionable and more open to doing all kinds of things in the classroom. I would not be able to do this without Laura (Bruckerhoff) and (Assistant Principal) Stacey (Secor). They are so supportive and so amazing. The food cultivation class was Laura’s idea. They’re both just incredible.”
Kaylin and her husband, Kevin, have been married for 17 years. They have two children. Dylin is 10 years old and in fourth grade at Campbellton Elementary. Lydia is 4 years old and a future Campbellton student. They live on Kaylin’s family farm in the Beaufort area.
Kaylin Bade, School District of Washington and WINGS Teacher of the Year
SDOW, WINGS Teacher of the Year
Kaylin Bade, front, agricultural science teacher at Washington Middle School, was named the School District of Washington and WINGS Teacher of the Year. Also pictured, from left, are WINGS members Susan Harms, Jason Oesterly, Brad Mitchell, Bob Oreskovic, Nancy Wood, Ruth Ann Smith and Lauren Storie, and SDOW Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Kephart.
Brad Mitchell of WINGS presents Kaylin Bade with the SDOW, WINGS Teacher of the Year Award.
Brad Mitchell of WINGS presents Kaylin Bade with the SDOW, WINGS Teacher of the Year Award.