Baylor Bear named Texas’ Clinical Teacher of the Year for 4th time in 5 years
For the fourth time in five years, a Baylor School of Education (SOE) graduate has been named Clinical Teacher of the Year for the state of Texas!
This year’s honoree: Alexandra Ronnenberg (BSED ’21), who received the award — which honors senior-level teacher-education students — from the Texas Directors of Field Experience (TDFE) last fall. She was specifically recognized for her outstanding instruction and interaction with children during her teaching internship last spring.
“I feel so honored,” Ronnenberg says. “If you would’ve told me four years ago I’d be a teacher, I would’ve never believed you. Now, I can’t imagine loving anything more.”
Ronnenberg applied to Baylor with the intention of getting a business degree, but that quickly changed after she spent a summer behind a desk. She changed her major to education during Orientation and never looked back.
“I loved every second of my time in SOE,” Ronnenberg says. “It was a relief to walk into class every day and know this was the right path for me. I’m so grateful for my time there.”
For Ronnenberg’s professors, it’s no surprise she was selected. “Alexandra truly is a hands-on, student-centered teacher,” says Darlene Bolfing (BSED ’95, MSED ’03), intern supervisor at Baylor SOE. “That is why her students have thrived. Her enthusiasm is contagious.”
“I’m confident Alex will have a huge and positive impact on the achievement of students,” adds Dr. Krys Goree (BSED ’78, MSED ’96, PhD ’11), director of the SOE’s Office of Professional Practice. “She definitely has what it takes.”
Ronnenberg joins several other Baylor Bears who have won the Texas Clinical Teacher of the Year Award in recent years, including Stephanie Wright (BSED ’16, MSEd ’17), Rachel Vaughn (BSED ’17) and Lauren Hornbeak (BSED ’19).
Today, Ronnenberg teaches second grade at Hillcrest Professional Development School in Waco ISD, the very same school where she completed her internship. And while only in her first year of teaching, Ronnenberg is looking forward to the years ahead. “Teaching is the best career in the whole world,” she says. “You really get to make a difference, and every day is new and exciting.”
Sic ’em, Alexandra!