BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
The record will always show that Hope Christian Academy’s Adina León was one of the Herzog Foundation’s Christian Teachers of the Year for 2022, but León can’t help but feel the honor should really be in the name of Ginny Banks.
Banks, who is now deceased, is León’s mother. She taught in Christian schools for 48 years. As you would imagine, she had a profound impact on León, who pointed out that her mother’s things can be found throughout her classroom.
“When I heard of getting the award, all I could think was, ‘This is my mom’s award.’ This is who she was,” León said. “I learned a lot of what I know about teaching from her.”
This is the first year the Herzog Foundation has recognized Christian Teachers of the Year. León, who teaches science for grades 7-12, was one of 12 teachers recognized, with two being named Science Teacher of the Year and Bible Teacher of the Year.
“I was kind of stunned at that moment because I had never even heard of this foundation,” she said. “The award itself kind of came out of the blue for me. It was an honor, of course, just to be thought of. That somebody thought of me.”
As a nominee, León submitted her resume, lesson plans and her philosophy of teaching. That was in early June. She then kind of forgot about the award as “summer kind of took over,” she said.
León received an email the last week in July that informed her she had been selected as one of this year’s honorees. Her reaction was emotional. She thought not only of her mother, but also of her father, Jerry Banks.
“My initial reaction was I immediately began to cry,” she said. “Both of my parents were Christian school teachers.”
It wasn’t actually León’s intent to follow in her parents’ footsteps, but it’s where the Lord led her after she initially worked with a children’s ministry in inner-city Philadelphia.
León, a graduate of Capitol Baptist School in Dover, Delaware, and Bob Jones University, is in her fifth year at Hope and has been teaching for a total of 24 years, with time in both private and public schools. Her husband, Dough, teaches at Hope as well.
Mother’s influence, teaching philosophy
León said what stood out about her mother as a teacher was her preparation. sometimes she and her six siblings She said she and her six siblings sometimes had to raise their hands at the dinner table to get their mother’s attention because she was still in teacher mode.
“I knew what it took behind the scenes to be a teacher,” León said. “My mom was never one to punch a clock and leave it at the office. She would work all summer creating PowerPoints and having it all ready to go and wanting it to be perfect.”
León said her mother also had a knack for getting students at every learning level to comprehend what she was teaching.
“She could break down a complicated topic and put it on that bottom shelf for the student who struggled the most,” León said. “She was never going to give up on a student. I think that is definitely an example to follow.”
León said part of her teaching philosophy consists of connecting with students and making what she’s teaching come alive for them so that they are interested in it.
“I strive to make it fun,” León said. “I believe it’s a sin to bore my students. As much as I can make it fun for them, then they’re going to want to listen and learn.”
She said it’s also part of her job to teach students to think on their own. León shared an example of an eighth-grade student she had who professed to be an atheist. She told him, “It is never my job to tell you what to think. That’s not my job. My job is to teach you how to think. If I can
teach you how to think and teach you to ask the right questions, God will show you the answers He wants you to have.”
“This young man not only accepted the Lord a few years later,” León said. “He became an evangelist who traveled the country and has gone back to teach Bible in the same Christian school he used to go to.”
What León wants is for children to form their own basis for their viewpoints. She tells them, “It’s not enough for your parents to know something. It’s not enough for me to believe something.”
Student success
For a teacher, there’s no greater feeling than watching a student grasp a concept that he or she is teaching and begin to experience success. However, the barrier to success isn’t always a matter of simply not understanding something that’s being taught. León believes the words children hear have a great impact. She said too many children hear negative words at home and that she wished more parents understood the effect those words have.
“Those words are seeds,” León said. “They take root, and those roots run deep. The fruit that comes out of the words they say is evident in the classroom, but also all through their life. If we could just change the narrative — not just in the classroom, but at home — I think we would see an entire generation just rock this world.”
León rejoices with her students when they experience success. She said she had a student who went from not caring how he performed in the classroom to being driven to excel. It began with that student earning a B for the first time and then earning an A.
That student asked León what she would do if he earned all A’s in her class. She said she’d stand up and cheer out loud at the school’s awards ceremony. The student asked her if she’d really do that for him. After she replied that she really would, the student asked what she’d do if he made A’s in all of his classes. León told him she’d cry.
“I think sometimes they just need someone who believes they can and tell them it’s possible,” León said, adding, “Kids are going to always rise to the level that’s expected of them in any setting. If we expect they’re not going to do their work, then they’re not going to do their work. When we expect that they can achieve greatness, they’re going to strive for it.”
Being honored during whirlwind trip
As a Herzog Foundation Christian Teacher of the Year, León attended an Excellence in Christian Education awards gala in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24. It was a whirlwind of a trip, arriving in D.C. the night before the gala and leaving the morning after the event.
It didn’t leave much time for interacting with her fellow teachers who were also being honored.
“That night at the gala, everyone had their own guests, so we didn’t really get to mingle a whole lot outside of posing for pictures,” León said, adding, “It makes me want to seek (the other teachers) out online and pick their brains a little.”
The time may have been short, but it was enjoyable. León stayed at the InterContinental Washington D.C.-The Wharf hotel, which afforded her with a view of the Potomac River. She also enjoyed a tour of the Museum of the Bible, which was provided to her and other honorees.
“They spoiled us, for sure,” León said. “It felt very special.”
León couldn’t get enough of the museum. The tour provided for the Herzog honorees was an hour, but she and her husband stayed and enjoyed it for another four hours. León said she was expecting nothing but a display of old manuscripts, but what she discovered was an interactive experience, which she admitted left her in awe.
“Yes, there was a massive manuscript room,” León said, “but the way that they presented the material just kind of drew you in — a variety of multimedia opportunities. We really enjoyed the walkthroughs they had for the Old and the New Testament.”
León said rooms devoted to the Old Testament covered creation and the flood, while the New Testament portion of the museum recreated a town in Galilee.
“You were walking through models of the houses and what it might have been like, stepping back in time,” she said.
The museum was a new experience, but the nation’s capital as a whole was not. León grew up an hour away in Delaware.
“All of our field trips were to D.C. growing up,” she said.
Her brother and sister were among those who accompanied her at the gala. Some of her friends were there as well, including one of her child-evangelism mentors.
It was quite an experience for León — one that was enjoyable, yet humbling. She doesn’t teach with an eye toward receiving any accolades for it.
“I’m just a person who’s doing my job,” León said. “That’s all I can do. I’m trying to do my job, and I’m trying to show Jesus.”
León, however, does like the fact that the Herzog Foundation recognizes Christian educators in such a way.
“I am thankful that Christian teachers are thought of as educators,” she said. “I think sometimes people think of a Christian school as just a glorified babysitting program that’s in competition with another sector. That’s not really our intent. Our intent is just to offer another viewpoint. We just try to give a Biblical worldview in our subject matter.”
León may be a member of the inaugural group of Herzog Foundation Christian Teachers of the Year, but she knows she’s following in the footsteps of someone who was worthy of such an honor herself — her mother.
