Antwonette Pettigrew honored as O’Neal Elementary School's Teacher of the Year

Praise and positive reinforcements are keys to Antwonette Pettigrew’s teaching style, which others call “extraordinary.”

Students and coworkers a like say, O’Neal Elementary School Teacher of the Year’s enthusiasm for learning is contagious. While her classroom is calm, all of her students are engaged.

Pettigrew presently teaches first grade at O’Neal. Prior, she was a co-teacher at the Early Childhood Center. Before teaching locally, she was a paraprofessional at Clippard Elementary School and Alma Schrader Elementary School, both in Cape Girardeau. From August to December 2014, she worked with the first grade at West Lane Elementary School in Jackson.

Fellow O’Neal teachers describe her as having an “abundance of patiences,” while student Carver Leach, who signed his comments as your friend, shared, “Your heart is filled with all love.”

Student Elliott Heaiser said, “I like her because she talks to me at recess and helps me when I’m confused. She makes the classroom fun.”

Cheryl Berry nominated Pettigrew for the honor.

“Mrs. Pettigrew is very soft spoken, and her classroom provides a calm environment for her students to thrive,” Berry said. “She displays a patient attitude toward her students and her peers. She always has a positive outlook no matter what situation arises. She is very carrying and nurturing toward her students and always wants her students to feel confident to achieve their goals. She incorporates a lot of music and dance in her classroom lessons for student engagement.”

She is a talented singer and often sings at community events, Berry said. She attends students’ extra curricular activities, such as, soccer, baseball games and other events.

She is an active member of Mount Calvary Powerhouse Church, where she is involved in the youth program and is on the praise and worship team.

Donna Baller is a speech/language therapist at O’Neal school, who has worked with Pettigrew for two years.

“Each morning, Ms. Pettigrew welcomes students with a warm smile and an individualized handshake,” Baller said. “Their facial expressions show how excited and ready they are for their day of learning. She gives them the feeling they are walking into their second home; a community in which they are all a ‘family.’”

O’Neal resource teacher Wray Ann Williams shares students with Prettigrew.

Williams said, “Her classroom environment is calm and inviting. Her students are always on task and working hard but also are happy and having fun. I’ve never heard her raise her voice to a student but rather watched as she has built personal relationships with each child and then uses this personal knowledge to encourage them to do and be their best.”

The students she and Pettigrew share “make steady progress toward academic gains and have an excitement for learning,” Williams said.

She has a bachelor’s degree in education, elementary education with a concentration in science. She has certification as a Missouri Teacher Certified first-fifth grades and Missouri Special Education.