Shreeve Award honors Missoula teacher

by Brianne Burrowes for Main Hall Main Street

"Are you still learning?" asked a little boy in Barbara O'Keefe's first- and second-grade multi-age classroom at Missoula's Lewis and Clark Elementary School.

"Yes," O'Keefe said, recalling the recent conversation she had with one of her students. It is obvious to all those who know her - O'Keefe is a lifelong learner - which is good because her goal is to instill a love of learning in the children she teaches.

O'Keefe is the 2005 recipient of the Maryfrances Shreeve Award, an annual honor given by UM's School of Education for excellence in Montana teaching. The award is given in memory of Shreeve, a longtime Montana educator. O'Keefe received the award, which comes with a $2,000 cash prize, April 8.

"I'm humbled and honored to have received this award," O'Keefe said. "I feel like I'm accepting it on behalf of all the teachers of (Missoula County Public Schools) District 1."

"Barb loves learning," said Karen Allen, principal of Lewis and Clark Elementary, in her nomination letter for O'Keefe. "She is a master of keeping a clear focus on the parts of her classroom practice that are effective and adding new, richer learning opportunities for students as she studies and learns about them."

O'Keefe follows the belief that if she listens to kids, they will tell her what they need and want. "Kids can do a lot more," she said. "We need to have higher expectations for them because they give right back to us."

That is exactly what her students did - give back - when they co-wrote a song with her and other Lewis and Clark faculty. The song, "Peace Within, Peace Without," painted images of peace in a simple and beautiful way and won the Father Jim Hogan Peace Award. The students then made CDs of the song and sold it. The proceeds went toward Tsunami relief efforts. Combined with allowances the students brought in, a total of $600 was donated to the cause, surpassing anything O'Keefe expected. She said this is proof that students can achieve more than expected if given the opportunity.

"I believe just as we hold our students accountable, we need to hold ourselves to high standards and continue to analyze and examine our teaching," O'Keefe said.

She has implemented new learning in her classroom and watches how her students react to the changes. She said she's always interested in finding ways to bring part of her personality into the classroom - whether it is through her guitar or love of reading and writing.

O'Keefe graduated in 1969 from Carroll College with an undergraduate degree in elementary education. She then taught in a third-grade classroom in Haverstraw, N.Y., for a year before teaching a kindergarten class on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation for three years. She received her master's degree in education in 1977 from UM. She taught at Paxson Elementary School before coming to Lewis and Clark, where she has taught for 18 years. O'Keefe also has been involved in Birds Beyond Borders - a program linking U.S. students with those in Mexico through pen pals in sister classrooms - and was involved in a teacher exchange in 1999 in Oaxaca, Mexico.

O'Keefe wants her students to remember her as a lifelong learner. She said, "When kids leave me I want them to leave me feeling confident and proud and feel like they have an importance in society."