Pronghorn Elementary Teacher Marianne Baysinger Receives Arch Coal, Inc. Teacher Award

Casper – Marianne Baysinger, a teacher at Pronghorn Elementary in Gillette, today was named one of 10 Arch Coal, Inc. Teacher Achievement Award recipients.

Along with recognition, Baysinger received a $2,500 cash award, according to Arch Coal Vice President Terry O’Connor, who told an assembly at McKinley Elementary School in Casper that “teachers are entrusted with Wyoming’s most valuable resource – its children.” O’Connor was joined by Governor Jim Geringer, State Superintendent Judy Catchpole and Wyoming Education Association President Gary McDowell.

“Marianne is an excellent teacher, who strives on a daily basis to meet the individual needs of her students,” says Principal Stephen Fenton. “She is able to plan activities that are congruent to the objective being taught and is able to cause students to maintain a continual mental focus, with the intent to learn.”

A 22-year veteran educator, Baysinger teaches Pronghorn’s third-grade students. She believes learning should be a joyful experience. “My attempts are to make a learning environment both enjoyable and caring,” she says. “I need to challenge students to learn and grow to their fullest potential. All students can and must be successful players in the game of life. We as educators must help them develop their total package of gifts and talents.”

The smiling teacher who greets every child, every day, with the most enthusiastic smile, is the teacher every child dreams of having, according to Baysinger’s colleague and Stocktrail Elementary Principal Sam Glover. “Every needy child who has crossed her doorway has been met with a look that says, ‘I believe in you, and I am so glad you are here.’ She is so quick to give a child a hug to celebrate or to hold them when they are hurt. It is a teacher like Mrs. Baysinger who brings out our best and takes a child into her heart for the rest of her life.”

Baysinger earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education/early childhood at the University of Wyoming at Laramie. She continues her education through classes, workshops and conventions and supports her community through various volunteer activities.

This was the inaugural year of the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Awards in Wyoming. Arch Coal is the nation’s second largest coal producer. Arch employs more than 500 people in Wyoming and produces more than 60 million tons of clean-burning, low-sulfur coal annually at its Wyoming operations. The company’s Black Thunder operation in Campbell County is one of the nation’s largest and most efficient coal mines. Arch Coal is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACI) and makes its corporate headquarters in St. Louis, Mo.