Golden Apple Winners
News and Events | College of Education

Michelle  Navarre (MA, 2001) and Kim Brasfield (MA, 1999) this year received the prestigious Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching.  Graduates of Roosevelt’s Elementary Education program, both women inspire their students to do more than just “get by”.

Kim Brasfield, an eighth-grade reading enrichment teacher at Carver Middle School in Chicago, last year got her students to tackle Macbeth, and in the course of reading the play, sharing stories of friends killed in their South Side housing development.  Linking subject matter to students’ lives is an important part of her teaching.

A two-time Roosevelt alumna, Brasfield received her bachelor’s degree in business from the University in 1994, and her master’s degree in education from Roosevelt in 1999.  After receiving her business degree, Brasfield went to work as a market research analyst for a local bank.  But she wanted to do something more meaningful, and she applied to Teachers for Chicago, a program with the Chicago Public Schools that places candidates in the classroom while they earn teaching degrees.  Since starting the Teachers for Chicago program, she has taught eight years in Chicago. The 2004-2005 academic year was her first at Carver.

“I’ve always valued education in part because my parents were teachers,” said Brasfield, who lives in Chicago’s Auburn-Gresham neighborhood. “Roosevelt made it easy for me to go into teaching because its classes are small, its professors are accessible and it has a great location.”

Michelle Navarre, a fifth-grade teacher at Harold Washington Elementary School in Chicago, also places strong emphasis on reading.  Many of her students excitedly read two or more novels per week.  Her students say she talks to them with respect, cares about their lives, and makes even the toughest lessons fun.  As a result, her kids do well—90% of them met the standards in reading and math tests.

Navarre was working as a photographer when “a friend of mine told me I’d be perfect for teaching. She encouraged me to apply for the Teachers for Chicago program, but I never thought I’d be accepted,” said Navarre, who entered the program in 1998, teaching during the day at Harold Washington and taking classes at night at Roosevelt.

“I’m extremely honored to be recognized for something I love doing,” said Navarre, who first realized she enjoyed working with kids during a visual arts program summer camp.  In addition to being a Golden Apple winner, Navarre in 2003 received certification from the prestigious National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS).   In Spring 2005, she became an adjunct faculty member at Roosevelt and team-taught a qualitative research course in the College of Education.

 “I am very proud that two of this year’s Golden Apple winners received their education from our College of Education," said George Lowery, who is the dean of Roosevelt’s College of Education. “These two fine teachers are really symbolic of what we advocate in our teacher education programs - and that is to train competent, caring people who have a vested interest in working in urban schools.”

The Golden Apple Award is given annually to 10 outstanding teachers in the Chicago metropolitan area. This year’s winners were inducted into the Golden Apple Academy of Educators during a 20th annual awards ceremony being held on May 7.  Kim Brasfield and Michelle Navarre join fifteen previous Roosevelt graduates who have won Golden Apples over the years.