Fabian Reid, an eighth-grade math teacher at Northeast Middle, has been recognized as one of the most innovative teachers in the U.S.A by The Henry Ford’s Innovative Nation Teacher Innovator Awards.
The award is given to educators with ingenuity and resourcefulness who are using the classroom to inspire innovation, creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking in their students. Reid is one of 10 first-place winners in the country who were selected by a team of judges based on their original and creative approaches to teaching.
Mr. Reid, who attended Lacovia High School, Church Teachers’ College and is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, was born in St. Elizabeth. He now works Northeast Middle School in Guilford County where he teaches math classes that challenge his students.
As a first-place winner, Reid will receive a week long “Innovation Immersion Experience” at The Henry Ford, in Dearborn, Michigan. The experience includes behind-the-scenes tours with curators and archivists, a teaching innovation workshop, recognition ceremony and more.
“Mr. Reid is the epitome of innovation in the classroom,” says Jamie King, principal at Northeast Middle. “He uses technology not only as a tool in his math classroom, but as an avenue to reach and engage each student individually.
It is not only about what students need to know in his class, but also how excited they are about pursuing knowing it. He teaches creatively and designs lessons that are interactive and take students through the learning experience at their own level and their own pace. This takes the slogan of personalized learning and actually makes it happen in the real world.”
Reid’s classroom is a blended learning environment that includes activities that are personalized and focus on growth for each student. Since implementing the model in 2013, Reid’s students have consistently exceeded expected growth each year.
