LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — If you’ve ever run into a Lynchburg Elementary fourth-grader at the grocery store and found yourself hearing all about three sisters soup or Native American tortillas, there’s a good chance you’ve already met Mr. Dusty — indirectly.
Dusty Dickey, who teaches fourth grade Science and Social Studies at Lynchburg Elementary, has been nominated for America’s Favorite Teacher, a national competition that awards one outstanding educator a $25,000, a trip to Hawaii, a feature in Reader’s Digest, and a school assembly with Bill Nye, The Science Guy. Voting closes this Thursday, March 27, and Moore County can help put him over the top.
Mr. Dusty’s approach to teaching is the kind that follows kids home. His classroom runs on hands-on, real-world learning — the sort where students aren’t just reading about history or science, they’re cooking it, building it, tasting it. When a lesson wraps up, he sends the recipe or instructions home so families can try it themselves. That’s why parents and grandparents keep stopping him in the cereal aisle to tell him their child is still talking about something they made in class months ago.
“For example, we made three sisters soup when we were studying about Native Americans,” Dickey wrote on his nomination profile, “And they were telling me how they enjoyed making it or how their child wanted to make it at home.”
He didn’t start out with grand ambitions for the classroom. He began as a part-time substitute and was encouraged by a fellow teacher to go back and get his certification — a leap he wasn’t entirely sure he could make.
“I did not have confidence to pass some of the courses,” he says, “But I was surrounded by people who believed I could achieve those goals.”
Now he describes himself as a teacher, guide, and motivator. The goal, he says, is to create positive learning experiences that show students how things work in the real world.
If he wins the $25,000 prize, he’s already got plans. A weather station for student forecasting. A classroom equipped with 3D printers and robotics kits. A mobile STEM lab on wheels that multiple classrooms could share, stocked with snap circuits, 3D pens, and hands-on resources. Digital microscopes. And a greenhouse where students could grow vegetables for the school and community.
That last one sounds exactly like something a Lynchburg fourth-grader would come home and ask to do themselves.
Voting is free once per day — you can cast one free vote every 24 hours, or make a donation vote at any time (donation votes support The Planetary Society, the nonprofit beneficiary of the competition).
If you’d like to vote for Mr. Dusty, you can do so by clicking here. Or visit americasfavteacher.org and search for Dusty Dickey at Lynchburg Elementary. Voting closes Thursday, March 27.•
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