Teach First winner makes US move
Elizabeth Butler, the first Teach First winner of a Teaching Award, is heading back to her native America but has said she would love to teach in England again.
Elizabeth, who joined the scheme for top honours graduates two years ago when it expanded from London to Manchester schools, is the 2008 winner of the SSAT Award for Outstanding New Teacher of the Year in the North West
A science teacher and a graduate in biology and Japanese from George Washington and Cambridge universities, Elizabeth said a fond farewell to pupils at Parklands High in Wythenshawe at the end of last term.
'I have really enjoyed Parklands even though it's a challenging place. But that's the point – initially it was a trial by fire but once you get to know the kids you can have a lot of fun. They might seem jaded and tough but once they let you into their lives they are delightful, incredible actually.'
Her main reason for leaving was a move to Boston where her English boyfriend has a place to study engineering at Master's level. She said she was 'extremely sad' to say goodbye and planned to be back at some point in her career.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth has a choice of jobs at four charter schools and Parklands High has a clutch of new Teach First entrants starting in September.
