Mandy Manning: Believe in Yourself

Self-confidence is a powerful belief for all students, including those who are adjusting to life in a new country.

Washington’s 2018 Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning has dedicated her life to helping her students develop confidence, so they can be successful long after high school. As a teacher at the Newcomer Center at Spokane’s Ferris High School, Manning works with English language learners who just arrived in the United States.

The center allows these students the chance to be in an environment where “they can learn language that relates to their everyday life and is at a level that they can attain,” says Manning.

“We help them to be comfortable asking and answering questions with people that they don’t know.”

One piece of advice she has for other teachers: “Build relationships with your kids and learn everything you can about them, both as learners and as human beings.”
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Manning’s impact is still felt by those who have graduated from the Newcomer Center, many of whom are now pursuing college degrees or are moving along in their careers. In this video, the sixth consecutive year that Ready Washington has featured Washington’s Teacher of the Year, three of her former students return to share what Manning has meant to them in their life journey. All three are now in college and on the path to their professional dreams.

“One of the best skills I learned from her is self-confidence,” said Jeff Louissant. “‘Always believe in yourself that you can do something.’ She just wants you to succeed.

“She believed in me, so that’s why I decided to go to college.”

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Thank you to Mandy Manning and the Newcomer Center at Ferris High School for helping to make this video possible. Check out Mandy’s blog here.