Two Greensprings teachers win state champions in teacher-of-the-year award

Two teachers from Greensprings School have been pronounced state champions in the 2021 Maltina Teacher of the Year Award. One of the teachers, Mr Lanre Oguntoye, was crowned n the Lagos State champion, while the other, Mr David Oluwadara, who recently joined the school won in Osun State. Talking about the process to becoming a champion, Oguntoye, who also emerged as a top 10 national finalists, said this year’s edition focused on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that he is happy that he was crowned a state champion.

He said, “The process started around April when interested teachers across the country filled questionnaires and submitted their portfolios about their teaching pedagogy. The edition has a special focus on teachers’ understanding of the SDGs and how they link to academics.

“The quality of our lesson planning and teaching philosophy was also tested, and we were assessed on how we developed our lessons in line with the SDGs. Another important part of this process is peace education, which assesses how teachers teach students about cultural diversity to maintain peace in the society. It was an interesting experience, and I am happy two of us from Greensprings School got the state champion award,” he said.

Commending the teachers, Mrs Lai Koiki, Executive Director of the school, said they prevailed as state champions because of their commitment to the profession.

She remarked: “The Greensprings School community is proud of these teachers, and we celebrate them. The confidence they portray in doing what they know how to do best and doing it with all sense of sincerity is commendable. I am sure the award is well-deserved for their sincere love for the teaching profession and their determination to give the best to their students. I am happy that their presentation at the competition and the extra effort put into their work paid off.”

The Maltina Teacher of the Year Award is an annual event organised by Nigerian Breweries to celebrate exceptional teachers in the country. State champions were rewarded with ₦500,000 each.