Celebrate Teachers! Winner Amy Blackwell: 'I Do It Out Of Love'

Her mom was a teacher. Her dad was a teacher. Her youngest sister is a teacher. Her oldest sister is a teacher.

It was really just a matter of time for Gunpowder Elementary School teacher Amy Blackwell.

“It’s in the family,” she said. “I fought it for a long time. But I wish that I would’ve done it right out of college.”

After eight years at Gunpowder, Blackwell was recognized as a top teacher in the area by winning the Celebrate Teachers! initiative hosted by White Marsh Mall.

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“It’s nice to see that some people really do care about their teachers,” Blackwell said. “It’s the best job in the entire world. I love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else in my entire life.”

Blackwell went back to school, graduating from Towson University in 2004 with her teacher degree. In 2005, she was given a longterm substitute teacher position at Gunpowder before being offered a full-time job elsewhere.

“The parents and the children are just phenomenal,” Blackwell said.  “I could’ve have asked for a better placement.”

It was that love for Gunpowder that made Blackwell risk missing out on full-time employment by not accepting the offer to leave.

“But there was no guarantee at that time. All I knew was, I loved the people,” she said.

As luck would have it, a kindergarten teacher position would open the following year.

“What other job can you go to where the people tell you they love you every day and give you a hug ... and I get paid to do it,” Blackwell said.

Blackwell was flanked by her family and co-teachers at a recognition happy hour Greene Turtle inside White Marsh Mall Tuesday afternoon. She’ll take home a $500 gift card to the mall, which will positively be spent on “shoes,” Blackwell said.

So what is it about the eight-year educator that helped her amass the majority of votes out of a field of eight nominees?

“My philosophy is that we come in every day and to have fun and learn. That’s what it’s about—making learning fun,” Blackwell said. 

The Celebrate Teachers! contest dovetails with mall’s partnership with DonorsChoose, an organization meant to, “shine the spotlight on the importance of a quality education and assist local schools and teachers with much-needed supplies and funding,” according to a release.

“Together with other General Growth Property malls, White Marsh Mall has helped to fund 196 classroom projects and assisted nearly 17,000 students throughout the state of Maryland,” the release continued.

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