NAME: Mrs. Pamela Bartholomew
SCHOOL: Forest Creek Elementary School
CLASS: 4th grade teacher
SCHOOL PHONE: 512-464-5400
E-MAIL: pam_bartholomew@roundrockisd.org
About The Teacher
I remember sitting with the little girl next door when I was about 6 years old. I taught that little girl to pronounce my name correctly. She used to call me 'Ham' and I modeled and helped her practice making the /p/ sound so that she could call me ‘Pam'. This was my first successful teaching experience. I don't remember a time when I didn't want to be a teacher.
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. I lived with my mom, and older brother in an apartment complex with lots of children so we always played outside with friends of all ages. I had many wonderful teachers in elementary school. These teachers were skilled at their craft and showed their love for all students. I loved reading and my teachers encouraged this by engaging us in the reading of quality novels such as The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Island of the Blue Dolphins, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and many more. I always loved school and strive for my students to share in that love.
High school was also great. I continued to study and read, and played piccolo in the marching band. I also met my wonderful husband, John, at a dance. He is now a full professor and Head of the Kinesiology Department at University of Texas in Austin.
After working in a summer day camp with 4 year olds, I graduated from Kutztown State University in Pennsylvania with a degree in Elementary Education and a focus on Early Childhood Education. I taught kindergarten for 3 years in a small school in Hamilton Township, New Jersey then moved to Arizona after getting married. In Mesa, Arizona, I taught Kindergarten for one more year then taught second grade for three years in a low socioeconomic school. At this time I earned my Master's Degree in Elementary Education with a focus on Reading from Arizona State University.
In 1996, we moved to Round Rock, Texas. Because I had a baby daughter, I decided to do Home Day Care for three years. It was amazing to plan activities for these children and watch them change and develop each day. I loved the babies but wanted to get back into the classroom. I had always been interested in Special Education and wished that I had more experience in that field while teaching in Arizona. In 2000, I got certified in Special Education and began teaching part-time at Double File Trail in the resource setting. The next year my mom moved in with us and I began teaching full-time at Forest Creek.
Teaching children with special needs is always interesting and challenging. I enjoyed facilitating learning in a pull-out program but felt that it wasn't the best setting for most children. I was so excited to implement a co-teaching model in 2004 with Sandy Harper and Jane Williamson. These very talented fourth grade teachers and I planned lessons together and combined our knowledge and skills to help meet the needs of all students. The students who in the past had been pulled out for specialized instruction thrived and succeeded in the general education classroom with support. Inclusion and co-teaching expanded the next two years at Forest Creek. After three years of co-teaching, I decided to return to the classroom for the 2007-2008 school year. I am so excited to be back working as the general education teacher in our fourth grade class and applying my knowledge of curriculum, differentiated instruction and multi-sensory education. I love fourth grade and fourth graders and am looking forward to my eleventh year back in the classroom, my 18th year in RRISD, and my 25th year of teaching in public schools. It is going to be a wonderful year!
Writing and Service Learning are two areas in which I am passionate. With the help of some of our other teachers and the support of our principal, Mrs. Lehnick, we started two after school clubs. Writing Club is open to all 2nd-5th graders. We meet every other week after school and practice writing strategies, talk about the craft of writing, and use children’s literature as models for quality writing. We share our writing at the end of each meeting as well as on broadcast and in our Rising Star Book. Our Service Learning Club is open to all 4th and 5th graders. We meet every other week after school and research areas of need as well as plan and facilitate service projects for our school. In the past we have written holiday cards for soldiers and valentines for hospitalized children, collected books and food for the Round Rock Serving Center, and collected pencils and erasers for children in an orphanage in Honduras. The club made 17 fleece, no-sew blankets and delivered them to the emergency shelter for STARRY by the Texas Baptist Children’s Home. Watching our students playing with the children and making holiday crafts together as well as helping them to choose a blanket to keep was amazing. We also met at the Round Rock Serving Center on the first Saturday of each month to volunteer our time. At the Serving Center, the children have helped sort clothing and food, weed the community garden, sweep the steps and the floor, and bag items in the clothing thrift store. The last three years, the Service Club facilitated a toy drive for our school to bring awareness to Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome (OMS). Over 500 toys were donated to Dell Children's Hospital in the last three years from our school. We also facilitated a Walk to Read Event on MLK Day. The books and money donated went to Libraries for Love in Uganda, Africa. Our school collected over 300 of books and over $450 to help build and maintain libraries in Africa. In 2017, we had a school wide Walk to Read Day during the school day. It was wonderful to see the entire campus walking the track then stopping to read a book. The walk symbolizes the long walk to school that many children in Africa endure to get to school. Forest Creek donated $1,074.08 and 1,266 hard back books for Libraries of Love! The Service Club made Valentine Bags for the children at the STARRY Emergency Shelter. In November 2012 I had the opportunity to visit an orphanage in Honduras and our club has completed some projects to help them. We made bracelets, wrote letters (using Google Translate) and our school collected over 900 pairs of flip flops for the children and people of Honduras over the last four years. Our children and families are very generous and extremely willing to help others.
Each year our school votes on a Teacher of the Year. In 2004, I was selected Teacher of the Year for our school which was a huge honor as a special education teacher. In 2012, I was again selected Teacher of the Year at Forest Creek Elementary as well as the 2013 Elementary Teacher of the Year for RRISD. I am so overwhelmed and excited about representing the wonderful teachers of our district and bringing positive recognition for the amazing activities that are going on at our school by all of our dedicated and hard-working teachers and staff. In December of 2012, I was also awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Texas Exes at The University of Texas. I was one of two elementary teachers selected from our entire state. This was a huge honor and I am very humbled by the recognition. It was amazing to receive these awards, but hearing stories from former students about what made a difference to them while I was their teacher means the world to me. A senior in high school who struggled with academics came to visit me last year and told me about how I helped her to have confidence and encouraged her creativity when I taught her and it has helped her throughout. The mother of a junior in high school told me recently of how her child had some challenges but that she always talked about me as the teacher who taught her how to write and to love writing. This student used writing to help her get through some of those challenges. I strive to be a positive influence on my students and to encourage life-long learning and confidence in themselves. Everyone has challenges and things that are difficult for them throughout their lives but we all also have countless strengths. Mistakes are a part of learning and struggles make us stronger. We get to decide our perspective to take on every situation and I encourage and model hopeful, positive outlooks. Effort, perseverance, and help from others can go a long way.
I live in Round Rock with my husband, my mother, my daughter Blair (who is a junior at University of Texas in Austin and on the UT Rowing Team), and my daughter, Emma (who is a freshman at Cedar Ridge High School, and a soccer player with the Austin Texans). We have a Bassett Hound/Beagle mix dog named Frodo and a Siamese/Tabby cat named Frankie. Blair also got a new kitten named Lenny who comes to our house often.
We are going to have an amazing year growing and learning together!
Send me an email at pam_bartholomew@roundrockisd.org. I would love to hear from you!
