2022-2023

MRA & District Teacher of the Year

Jason Daniels

At MRA we listen for loud noises. It’s not too uncommon for a student to have an outburst of some kind. We have a hundred and one responses to put the students back together. But the process often starts with the loud vocalization. We are conditioned that when you hear a loud voice, you stop and listen closely. 

Often the loud noise is coming from the shop class of Mr. Jason Daniels. And it’s not a student having an outburst. It is Mr. Daniels, whooping it up with his students – yelling some kind of celebratory remark, praising, high fiving. This is our Mr. Daniels. He is a champion teacher who regularly champions his students, holding them up for kudos, highlighting their accomplishments, and celebrating their smallest victories. 

Mr. Daniels loves his students. He loves teaching them, drawing them out of their shell to show them that they can when they are used to feeling that they cannot. Because in Mr. Daniels’ arena, students can! Mr. Daniels finds a way to help them shine. But he also loves just hanging with his students. Playing basketball, riding bikes through the MCC trails, having lunch with them, watching them tear around the MRA grounds in a go-cart they built together. 

In mathematics there is a term known as absolute value. It’s a pair of parallel lines that appears in an equation. Anything that is inside the parallel lines is positive and has a positive value. No matter what. Mr. Daniels’ classroom is a place where students know completely they have absolute value. That they matter. That he believes in them. This comes through in the conversations he has with parents in his monthly phone calls and texts where he shines the light on his kids for their parents, some of whom have never heard words of praise regarding their child.

Jason Daniels is a father figure to many students, a masterful teacher who brings unconditional positive regard to MRA every day. Students in his care, in his class, in his presence shine and thrive!