Tammy Kostan has worn all the hats: Meadows parent, MBUSD substitute teacher and Meadows teacher! All this after having had a first career at Warner Brothers Television, serving as Les Moonves’ administrative assistant!!! 

Tammy has been a teacher who has always emphasized the collaborative process and project-based work from her very first year of teaching.  She is a GATE-certified fourth grade teacher and outstanding writing instructor, impacting our fourth grade writing scores immediately when she came on board. She has thrown herself 100% into our Writing Workshop methodology for teaching writing and her Pie Celebrations are greatly anticipated by all!

Tammy is a whiz at instructional technology and loves it, presenting professional development to our staff, and being one of the first teachers at Meadows to use the SmartBoard. The District’s Teacher of the Year committee recently witnessed an example of Tammy’s exemplary integration of technology into her teaching. The lesson’s focus was on the Transcontinental Railroad. Students worked in cooperative groups, with each group taking on the perspective of different people whose lives were impacted by the building and completion of the railroad: Chinese immigrants, railroad owners, Native Americans, and American travelers. Students used iPad QR code readers to access preselected reading materials about different facets of the Transcontinental Railroad. They read the research and worked in teams to distill the information they learned into presentations about the Transcontinental Railroad from their assigned perspective. All of this occurred in one 30-minute lesson!

In addition to her leadership in the classroom, Tammy has served on Meadows School Site Council, the Meadows Technology Committee, and as a teacher leader on Safe School Ambassadors. Tammy’s leadership reaches District levels, where she is a continuing grade level lead and serves on the Teaching and Learning Committee. Principal Connie Harrington is thrilled to present Tammy Kostan as Meadows Teacher of the Year. She represents the best of the teaching profession and always put children first!