- April 25, 2024
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Mark Fetz, Teacher of the Year for the online learning platform iFlagler, doesn't have the opportunity to make connections with students in a physical classroom. But he's become adept at doing so in a virtual one — and, as classes shifted online because of COVID-19, he's helped colleagues do the same.
"Whenever I see a student struggling in one of his classes and ask Mr. Fetz about it, he knows the complete back story of what is happening with the student and his entire family that is having an impact on the child’s performance in class. "
— DIANE DYER, Flagler Schools executive director of teaching and learning
With iFlagler's sudden expansion because of the pandemic, Flagler Schools Executive Director of Teaching and Learning Diane Dyer wrote in a letter of reference for Fetz's Teacher of the Year application, she'd worried about how the district could quickly train its teachers in virtual instruction.
"I needed his help as a virtual veteran and knew I could count on him. I have not been disappointed," she wrote. "On his own initiative, he regularly creates tutorials and fast tips for teaching virtually to share with his colleagues. ... He has become a true leader in iFlagler."
Dyer noted that Fetz often has a heavier course load than colleagues, not infrequently teaching seven classes at a time.
"He has not once ever complained or asked for relief," she wrote. "He just dives in, starts building relationships, and gets the work done."
Whenever Dyer has noticed that a student in his class is struggling, and she's asked Fetz about it, "he knows the complete backstory of what is happening with the student and his entire family that is having an impact on the child’s performance in class," Dyer wrote.
Fetz, born in Michigan, earned a degree in business computer information systems from Western Michigan University before realizing that he liked working with kids more than computers, and attended Flagler College to earn a degree in secondary education social sciences.
He started teaching fulltime in 2011 at Flagler Palm Coast High School before shifting the next year to iFlagler, teaching social studies and English.
"An adventurous traveler, Mark is able discuss historical and contemporary events with tact and courtesy," Matanzas High School chemistry and French teacher Khady Harmon wrote in a letter of reference for Fetz.
Fetz, she added, had also sponsored Matanzas High School's Fellowship of Christian Athletes club from 2014 to 2018.
"Mark’s committed his time and personal finances to allow students to experience a variety of engaging and meaningful interactions with other believers," she wrote. "Mark’s vision was to inspire a culture of love, respect, and purpose."
Fetz especially enjoys teaching secondary students because they're old enough to understand higher-level concepts, he wrote in his Teacher of the Year application statement.
"I enjoy seeing them grow and mature into adulthood," Fetz wrote. "No other time in anyone’s life does such a drastic, dramatic development occur. ... Helping to contribute to their development not just as learners but as individuals has and continues to inspire me."
He has a magnet near his desk with a Chinese proverb on it: “Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself,” it says.
"Our job is to not only open the door to learning, but to also challenge ourselves to 'enter in' as well," he wrote. "In doing so, students will be imbibed with a passion and desire to pursue more knowledge, knowing that we have never given up on our own ambition to gain and grow both professionally and personally."
