Asbury University Educator of the Month: Karen Botts

If you’re looking for the personification of dedication as it relates to public school teachers, you don’t need to look any further than Karen Botts of Coventry Oaks Elementary.

Botts is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher with more than 20 years of experience, so you might think she’d be gliding toward retirement, right? Think again.

Her alarm clock clangs at 3 a.m. and she opens the school at 5, two hours before students even arrive. She plans her day before tutoring a fifth grader in reading and writing at 7:15.

Instead of hall or bus duty, Botts prefers working directly with students. Botts has another compelling reason for rising hours before dawn every day. Her daughter. Hannah is a ninth grader at Tates Creek High, and Karen leaves Coventry Oak at the final bell so she can spend time with her family.

Botts is as dedicated a parent as she is a teacher. When it comes to ESL, Botts is an expert. Working with the state department of education, she helped devise ESL content standards, and she created proficiency tests for WIDA (World-class Instructional Design and Assessment) which designs assessments for K-12 English-language learners.

Botts is a reading recovery teacher of ESL students and works with small groups of students for 30 minutes at a time throughout the day. In addition, she works with ESL third and fifth graders during class time.

Botts has a passion for language, especially Japanese. Two decades ago, she participated in a teacher exchange program and taught for a year in Yokkaichi, a mid-sized Japanese city.

“I was treated like a rock star,” she said. “They have such respect for teachers and I had friends all over town. I love their language and it’s neat to see the world through another culture.”

Most of her current ESL students are Hispanic, but she has taught students from Tanzania, Congo, Nepal and many Arabic countries.

“I love learning about their food, music and meeting their families,” she said.

That’s why, Botts said, she has the best job in Fayette County Public Schools.

“The kids come here not speaking a word of English and now some of them are going to college,” she said. “I love making a difference in children’s lives and giving them the tools and structure they need to succeed. I feel like I get the best kids and the best families. They are so appreciative and respect all teachers.”