Her Story
Maureen Murphy-Foelkl taught second and third grade for 32 years in the Salem-Keizer School District in Oregon, finishing at Chapman Hill Elementary School. She decided to be a teacher at age twelve, when her father trusted her to research how to help a newly hatched homing pigeon with injured legs, and she taught her classmates what she had learned. Her classroom was learner-centered and project-based, and she avoids scripted lessons that “are constructed for convenience, not for increased learning.”
Her students spent much of their time outdoors. They studied an oak savanna and the local creek, researched the endangered Fender’s blue butterfly and Kincaid’s lupine, took photographs with the iNaturalist app and wrote reports with habitat restoration suggestions for the City of Salem. They co-wrote learning targets with her, and they tracked their own reading progress. Her principal says that in 2014-15 nearly all of her third graders met or exceeded Oregon’s reading and math standards.
Her students removed ivy, planted native trees, counted stream insects, helped raise salmon for release with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and presented their findings to the Glen/Gibson Creek Watershed Council, the mayor and the Salem City Council. They placed second in the Disney Planet Challenge and produced a digital journal called “A Salmon Tail.” Each day they reported weather data to the national CoCoRaHS network and took rain gauges home.
Beyond the Classroom
Fifth graders she coached at Chapman Hill won first place nationally in the 2013 Toshiba ExploraVision competition, and each team member earned a $10,000 scholarship. She is a past winner of the Entomological Foundation’s President’s Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Primary Education, the Oregon Green Schools Premier Award and the Dorothy Patch Community and Educational Achievement Award. She served on the state science standards committee and the district’s science committee when Oregon adopted the Next Generation Science Standards, represented the district for elementary STEM, and has written more than 30 grant requests.
She led the school’s Roots & Shoots program, a community garden and a school-wide recycling program, and trained through Teachers Experiencing Antarctica. She now reviews articles for Science and Children magazine, presents at National Science Teachers Association conferences, and works with the Straub Environmental Center in Salem, writing outdoor education lessons that educators nationwide can use.
Philosophy Into Practice
Murphy-Foelkl believes that “the most productive relationship between teachers and students is the fostering of a safe and supportive environment that creates mutual respect and equal opportunity for all.” She wants students to feel free to take a chance and make mistakes. She shares assessment data with students and parents, and she checks that her tests are culturally valid and match the standards.
She believes every child deserves access to STEM learning. She says Title I schools too often have to focus only on basic skills, and she argues that problem- and project-based learning will “create powerful, literate schools, especially for underserved populations.” She also volunteers in a Title I school, designing engineering challenges for students.
“There is no one-size-fits-all strategy of delivering a lesson.”Maureen Murphy-Foelkl
In Her Own Words
“Outdoor classrooms foster curiosity.”Maureen Murphy-Foelkl
“Teaching outdoors nurtures the natural sense of wonder and adventure.”Maureen Murphy-Foelkl
“Student success is the resilience, the toughness and the flexibility to push past the point of quitting.”Maureen Murphy-Foelkl
What Others Said
“Maureen is an exceptional teacher and person.”Alan Meyer, nominator, board member, Energy Trust of Oregon
“Maureen Foelkl is the epitome of this type of educational excellence.”Heidi Litchfield, director of elementary education, Salem-Keizer Public Schools
“Maureen’s teaching, mentoring, and guidance do not stop at the school or classroom, but extends to her community and beyond.”Tom Hall, parent of former students
“She gets students excited to learn and gives them confidence in themselves.”Tracy Cook, parent of a former student
“Before her retirement, she was the most sought out teacher by parents.”Pamela Sloan, former colleague