Christine Tamayo

Position: Assistant PrincipalSchool: Tomahawk ElementarySchool District: Cartwright School District #83City, State: Phoenix, Arizona
About the Nominee: Christine Tamayo was nominated by her principal, Marilyn Bond.Ms. Tamayo is an instructional leader whose knowledge of best instructional practices allows her to support teachers in increasing academic rigor as well as look at data to make instructional decisions. She is also innovative in managing student behavior. In the past two years, she has fully implemented a new school-wide behavior program at Tomahawk School. Ms. Tamayo is changing the lives all students by guiding teachers to focus on the positive characteristics of every child. She also meets with struggling students on a daily basis to set goals for the day, checking in at the beginning of the day and "checking out" at the end of each day. This simple act has helped these children be successful in class and feel a sense of accomplishment and belonging they have not experienced before. She also developed, organized and implemented a reward system for behaviorally challenged students to have something to work towards such as: spending time with a favorite teacher, additional recess, or simply coming to her office to have lunch with her. She is a wonderful LifeChanger![nominee_videos nominee_email="christine.tamayo@csd83.org"]