To be named Teacher of the Year in your hometown is a great honor. Being one of five finalists for the National Teacher of the Year Award is a whole new level of prestige. Jermar Rountree Downtown Public Charter – Brightwood Campus knows what it does. The 2023 Teacher of the Year in Washington, DC was named one of five finalists for this year’s national award. What may surprise you is that the man affectionately nicknamed “Coach” is a physical education teacher. He is the first physical education teacher in seven decades to be nominated for this honor.
“It’s an incredible situation,” Rountree said. “I literally had no idea which one was first, but then to get one of the last five spots for nationals is an incredible feeling.”
Rountree works with a range of 260 to 280 students from kindergarten through eighth grade each year. For many of them, he is more than just a teacher – he serves as a mentor. Rountree isn’t just aware of this – he appreciates the opportunity because he knows firsthand what having a mentor can do for a child.
“Every year I look at the students and see myself in a pile of shoes. I can look at them and say “I was you”. This makes chatting with students much easier.
Rountree is the grandson of a World War II veteran. He grew up in a family that moved around a lot. He shared that he went to eight different elementary schools when he was a kid. An indirect side effect of this upbringing is that he didn’t come into contact with too many teachers, but he quickly made friends with other students.
“I developed this ability to make friends quickly, but I also had an attitude towards teachers that I knew I wasn’t going to be around for very long.”
Rountree did not look at his teachers as some of his students might look at him. That is, until he met Darryl Parker, a substitute teacher in the Waterbay public school system who was filling in for a day.
“He changed the way I looked at things and I changed,” he recalls. “Every time I saw him, he was recording himself. Those recordings made me feel better about being in school.”
Rountree agreed to be at the school, whichever one he moved to. Growing up, he played sports in middle school and high school. His two favorites were basketball and football, and he was recruited by Penn State University at some point, but his grades weren’t high enough to make it to that level.
“I ended up going to community college for about a year and a half with the idea of going to play football.”
Football might have been on his mind, but fate would have a different course for Rountree – law enforcement. After agreeing to go with a roommate to take a test for law enforcement, Rountree passed, but his roommate did not. After considering the opportunity, Rountree chose to go ahead with training to become a correctional officer, while still working to earn his degree in history.
“I ended up getting it and I graduated in a class of 255, and ended up as a corrections officer. It was not my dream at all. I was just helping my roommate.
Sleep was a precious commodity for Rountree at this point in his life. He would go to school at night while stationed in a Level IV maximum security prison in Bridgeport, CT. While there, he worked on a basic system with the inmates – giving respect, getting respect. He made the most of the days he worked there by following that creed, but an 18-year-old inmate stood out because he asked Rountree to read a letter he couldn’t read himself. .
“In this situation, I asked myself ‘how could I prevent this?’ I went to school for this reason – to educate our young black men and our children of all colors, but especially young black men so they wouldn’t end up in a place like this.
As Darryl Parker was a mentor and guide for Rountree, he wanted to become the same for children of a new generation. After graduating, he wasted no time trying to make a difference. While in Connecticut, he started a business called “Physical Education and Nutrition Training.” His goal was to teach people in preschools and daycare centers how they could teach physical education to their children.
“I gave them tools, I created this whole curriculum, so teachers had what they needed to teach kids in this age range about being fit, valuing nutrition, and how to interact.”
Rountree also hosted bootcamps with families at another school he worked at in the DC area. They would meet at the National Mall and participate in workouts. He also worked with vendors and organizations so they could get involved and give families more to take home with them. He did more than train people. “Coach” was doing just that, coaching children and parents to become contributing members of a community.
“This year, I work with my students in my class of choice. They’ll manage stations and tables, create mini workout lessons for families to try out at an event.
The winner of the National Teacher of the Year award is expected to be announced in mid-April 2023. Whether or not he wins, the winner of the Washington DC Teacher of the Year award has clearly exceeded the expectations to make a generational difference in his field. Whether it’s with his daily work, his personal training, his coaching or even his bike rides, his goal is to impact children and families, just as Mr. Parker did for him.
“I try to provide as much as I can for families and our children.”
You can get in touch with Jermar Rountree on LinkedIn.
