2015 Arizona Teacher of the Year

John-David Bowman

For John-David Bowman, 2015 Arizona Teacher of the Year, teaching is his true passion. He has changed countless students’ lives in the eight years he has taught International Baccalaureate (IB) theory of knowledge, IB history of the Americas and Advanced Placement (AP) U.S. history at Westwood High School in Mesa Public Schools. Bowman holds an M.A. in secondary education from Northern Arizona University and graduated with honors from Arizona State University with a B.A. in history and political science.

When asked the best thing about receiving the Golden Bell Teacher Award, Bowman plugged the amazing Westwood students and Westwood High School for its AVID Demonstration School status, Top 10 IB/AP programs, nationally recognized robotics team, outstanding ROTC program and 40 clubs on campus.

Bowman described his experience of being a new teacher, from the initial excitement he felt to the realization his classroom did not have the latest technology and he would need to acquaint himself with using overhead slides. He found out he would be teaching a course he had not expected which meant a crash course in preparation. Then came the big day when he decorated his classroom and everything had to be perfect. He described the “Herculean task of curriculum planning until the day, one day, he was alone except for 35 sets of eyes saying teach me.”

Every day Bowman returns to the classroom, as do all the other teachers, until they don’t and, according to Bowman, “That’s the elephant in the room—teacher turnover rate.” With a 65 percent teacher retention rate, John-David Bowman spoke about the need for teacher mentoring. He stated, “The goal should be to retain the talented and enthusiastic teachers for as long as possible. I would not be where I am today without an impressive array of veteran teachers who mentored me through my career. The school district has surrounded me with excellent mentors and tremendous students.”

But Bowman recognized his mentoring experience was not a systematic mentoring process but rather more a positive “luck of the draw.” He posited, “How can we make it where every school district and every county in Arizona can have a systematic plan for teacher mentoring?” His final comment, “Mentoring Matters!”

Mary Cummings

PR Consultant