SPOKANE, Wash. — National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning recently had an opportunity to sit down and talk education with Bill Gates. She said he gave her hope for the future.
Manning, a teacher at Ferris High School in Spokane with 19 years in education under her belt, said she and Gates chatted about the need for a focus on communication and connection in education.
“We talked about education in general and strengths of public schools, and how they are intended to provide an excellent education for all students…and so it’s important that we support our public schools and expand our public schools’ ability to meet individual and students’ needs,” Manning said of the meeting.
“The fact that I got to sit down with Bill Gates really showed me that there are people at every level of society that are interested in sitting down and making connections,” she added later.
Manning teaches immigrant and refugee students at Ferris High School’s Newcomer Center. She also serves as a basketball coach adviser to student groups on campus. She was named Washington state’s 2018 Teacher of the Year and received the honor of National Teacher of the Year for her efforts to “help her students process trauma, celebrate their homes, countries and culture and learn about their new community.”
Throughout Manning’s 35-minute chat with Gates, he reaffirmed his passion for education, she said.
“I think it’s really cool that he is sitting down with state teachers of the year to shape his ideas about education and help focus on what’s really going on because of his influence,” Manning added.
She said the amount of time Gates spent with her was different from her meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House in May.
“With Donald Trump, I maybe had two or three minutes with him. We didn’t really have a back-and-forth conversation. I gave him [my students’] letters and told them about them, we took a photo and that was that,” she said. “It was very clear to me that Bill Gates was interested and engaged in what we were discussing.”
As part of the experience, Manning was able to write a guest post on Bill Gates’s blog titled “Let’s give teachers a bigger voice.” In the blog post, she reflects on the early years of her career and lessons she has learned as a teacher. You can read it here.
Gates also wrote a blog post about his meeting with Manning, calling her “a remarkable teacher” and one of his “heroes in the field.” You can read it here.
The billionaire and Microsoft founder also posted an Instagram photo with the high school teacher. The post reads:
“When I was a student, I was lucky to have some inspiring teachers who brought out the best in me. I recently met a remarkable teacher who is doing the same thing for kids who face obstacles I never could have imagined when I was in school. Her name is Mandy Manning, and she teaches English and math in Spokane, Washington, to immigrant and refugee teens who have just arrived in the United States.”
A post shared by Bill Gates (@thisisbillgates) on
Most people would be beyond nervous if they met Gates but not Manning. She said she chose to focus on her message rather than nerves. But she did have a funny experience when she introduced herself to Gates.
“When I first went in and we were meeting for the first time, the first thing I said was, ‘Oh my gosh! We could be related!’” Manning said with a laugh, citing their blue eyes and similar eyeglasses.
Manning will travel around the U.S., and possibly the world, this year to speak to educators from state, federal, and local administrations, school board members, and schools, she said.
“I’ll be learning and I’ll also be hopefully sharing some of my experiences in an effort to impact education and education policy,” she said.
Right now, she is preparing the teacher who will take her place in her absence. She said it’s “bittersweet.”
“In nineteen years, I haven’t had a school year where I haven’t greeted students on the first day,” she said.