Faces of the Valley: Highlands teacher Jennifer Kosior wins magical Disney trip for creative educators

Sometimes you get an email that you just can’t believe.

For Highlands Middle School teacher Jennifer Kosior, it was an announcement from the happiest place on Earth, naming her a winner in the Disney 100 Teachers Celebration.

“I don’t think I can put it into words,” said Kosior, the school’s library media specialist.

“I was in a little shock and extremely honored.”

Kosior of Tarentum was among 100 teachers across the country to be honored at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif., from May 4-7 as part of the company’s campaign to celebrate innovation and creativity.

Winners were selected from more than 7,900 applications, according to Disney, for demonstrating the spirit of imagination in their classrooms, inspiring students and playing a key role in shaping the minds of America’s future leaders.

“I’ve been a Disney fan since I was a child,” said Kosior, who worked during summer breaks from college at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

During her time there, she drove a Jeep to guide tourists through the Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom and once saw a wildebeest give birth.

Kosier uses a Marvel theme in her classroom to spur conversation with her young students, both girls and boys.

In her winning essay, Kosior detailed her use of hands-on, project-based learning and imagination-powered lessons that empower students’ confidence, problem-solving abilities and ingenuity.

She was one of three educators in Pennsylvania to be chosen for the trip, which coincided with Disney’s 100th anniversary and was scheduled just ahead of National Teacher Appreciation Week.

McCall Emerick, from the Allegheny Valley School District, also was named a winner.

“This was just an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me,” Kosior said.

The action-packed trip was magical from rope drop to closing time. Teachers converged at the Disney Imagination Campus for interactive workshops, performances and special events. They heard from Disney Imagineers, the people responsible for merging fantasy and reality at the theme park.

“One of them built a model with an erector set, and now it’s one of the park’s most popular rides,” Kosior said. “We are guiding the next generation of innovators, and we want to encourage imagination. I came back with a billion ideas.

“We talked a lot about ways to push kids to think outside the box.”

A district teacher for 20 years, Kosior previously taught math and social studies and served as a technology coach.

Principal Becky Bragan said the middle school team is proud of Kosior for chasing the opportunity and returning with unbridled enthusiasm to sprinkle through the school like Disney pixie dust.

“We are excited to see how she will implement the skills and ideas she was exposed to while on this trip,” Bragan said.

At the theme park, Kosior said the group of teachers was given the royal treatment, from photo opportunities at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle to personalized Mickey ears to participating in a Main Street cavalcade.

Kosior particularly enjoyed making the trip with her mother, Linda Bell, who inspired her to become a teacher.

Bell is a retired teacher who spent more than 30 years in the New Kensington-Arnold School District.

“I walked the parade route waving a ribbon. Some of the others were on floats. To have people you don’t know cheering for you and shouting that teachers are awesome, it was amazing,” Kosior said.