University picks Glenfair teacher for award

Student instructor praises Russ Kinyon’s dedication, skill

By Rob Cullivan

The Gresham Outlook, Oct 6, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Shanda Tice / Gresham Outlook

Russ Kinyon works with students, from left, Antonio Luna, Caleb Ake and Hannah Barelaon on their science projects at Glenfair Elementary School on Monday, Oct. 5. Kinyon was named Teacher Mentor of the Year by the University of Phoenix.

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A few weeks ago, Russ Kinyon, who teaches fourth grade at Glenfair Elementary School in the Reynolds School District, groaned when he noticed a couple visitors to a faculty meeting.

Kinyon wondered who the heck the visitors were, “and I hope they don’t take up a lot of time.”

Turns out, they were representatives of the University of Phoenix, Ariz., which operates teaching programs in Oregon and Washington. They were there to let Kinyon know he had been named Teacher Mentor of the Year for his work with Michele Interian, a Phoenix student-teacher who worked for 15 weeks in the Glenfair instructor’s classroom last year.

“Mentoring student teachers is not an easy job,” Interian says. “Russ knows how to support teachers in a constructive manner that makes them better at what they do.”

Robert Hamm, Phoenix’s Oregon campus chairman for education, notes Kinyon was selected out of about 40 teacher-mentors in southwestern Washington and Oregon who worked with Phoenix student-teachers last year. The university donated $500 to Glenfair as well. Hamm says an essay Interian wrote nominating Kinyon impressed Phoenix.

“Based on Michele’s exceptionally written essay, the department felt the true impact of Russ Kinyon’s mentorship and believed his dedication to rise above a talented group of mentor teachers,” Hamm says.

Interian adds she’s now teaching at an elementary school in Park City, Utah.

“If I had not been in Russ’s classroom, I know that I would be feeling very lost right now.”

Elementary facts

Kinyon, 43, has taught at Glenfair for 11 years, and has spent 17 years in education.

“It’s always challenging, and I like that,” he says, noting he particularly enjoys teaching math and science. “You have 31 variables going in your classroom all day long.”

Those “variables” are his students, and Interian says she was impressed by how Kinyon handles them.

“He arrives at 6 a.m. every morning to prepare for the day and week’s lessons,” she says. “The students in his class not only vary in grade and age, but also English language ability as well as readiness. He is instrumental in the lives of his students, who also come from varied backgrounds.”

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