NEWS: Spotsylvania Celebrates Its Teachers of the Year
Superintendent Clint Mitchell celebrates teachers, and the families who sacrifice so these educators can create spaces for students to explore, feel safe, and thrive.
By Martin Davis
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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On a night dedicated to celebrating teachers, Spotsylvania Schools Superintendent Clint Mitchell opened the aperture.
“I see not only the teachers in this room,” he said to those who filled the banquet hall at Stevens Ridge, “but the families who made that teacher.”
The Teachers of the Year that the county celebrated Thursday night are “Creating environments where kids can explore, feel safe, and thrive,” said Master of Ceremonies Amy Williams who is the district’s chief human resources officer.
But doing that work comes at a price, “because of the tireless hours people put in, I know that families suffer,” Mitchell said, often taking time away from family to serve the children they are charged with educating.
“We as a school division don’t take that for granted,” he said, “and we are thankful to all of you for your dedication to our students.”
The message has special meaning this year, because as Mitchell pointed out, public education is under attack. “It’s becoming more politicized all the time,” he said. There are people who will say “that schools are failing,” Mitchell continued; “don’t believe that narrative. The people who came across this floor are making great things happen for children, and I don’t what you to forget that.”
In addition to the 33 teachers named as Teachers of the Year for their schools, five teachers were named Division Finalists for Division Teacher of the Year.
The five finalists submitted portfolios that were reviewed by a committee. From that review, one teacher, Amy Reardon — an English Language Learners teacher at Chancellor Elementary School — was named Division Teacher of the Year.
She received a $1,000 check from the event’s sponsors — the Spotsylvania Education Foundation and Southwest Food Excellence.
Reardon will now submit a nomination pack that the state will evaluate and select a eight regional teachers of the year, and finally, the Virginia Teacher of the Year.
Spotsylvania County Public Schools Teachers of the Year
(*Designates a Finalist for Division Teacher of the Year; #designates Division Teacher of the Year).
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Carolyn Anderson (Reading Specialist) * — Battlefield
Sally Johnson (Special Education) — Berkeley
Danielle Dinger (First Grade) — Brock Road
Joselyn Beyer (Fifth Grade) — Cedar Forest
Amy Reardon (ESOL) *# — Chancellor
Lydia Siegelman (First Grade) — Courthouse Road
Cindy Barsanti (Kindergarten) — Courtland
Brenda Webb (Special Education) — Harrison
Emily Driscoll (Fourth Grade) — Lee Hill
Dawn Green (Second Grade) — Livingston
Rebecca Perry (First Grade) — Parkside
Dawn Robey (Fifth Grade) — Riverview
Alexis Saenz (First Grade) — Salem
Julia Parker (First Grade) — Smith Station
Victoria Grey (Fourth Grade) — Spotswood
Mia Andruss (First Grade) — Spotsylvania
Suzannah Glaeser (Library Media Specialist) — Wilderness
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Alexander Gregori (English) — Battlefield
Melissa Brace (Civics) * — Chancellor
Lori Swift (Special Education) — Freedom
Melissa Bedford (Math) — Ni River
Donald Clayton (Science) — Post Oak
Maura Lavoy (Health and PE) — Spotsylvania
Deborah McMullan (Special Education) — Thornburg
HIGH SCHOOLS
Elizabeth Turner (Library Media Specialist) — Chancellor
Carla Crabtree (Special Education) — Courtland
John Kobuchi (Biology) — Massaponax
Kim Collier (Math) * — Riverbend
Kristi Rice (Cybersecurity Teacher) * — Spotsylvania
Caitlin Coligan (Special Education) — John J Wright ECC
Casie Gibbs (Special Education) — Rappahannock Detention Center
Rebecca Larkin (Teachers for Tomorrow) — Career & Technical Center
Local Obituaries
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