Local News

Teacher surprised by announcement

BUCKHANNON -- It took a fake staff meeting and a tour of Tennerton Elementary to look at projects that need tackled, but Upshur County Schools' Teacher of the Year was surprised with the announcement as her peers looked on Monday afternoon.

Erin Anderson, a fifth-grade teacher at Tennerton, already won the Teacher of the Year for Tennerton, but didn't expect to be picked as the county honoree.

"I was very surprised to hear this today," she said. "I have been watching all the Teacher of the Year videos from the other schools and have just been really impressed with the videos. There are some teachers who are retiring and some of them I had. I really am surprised right now."

Tennerton Principal Tristen Gray said Anderson was deserving of the honor.

"Erin is extremely innovative," he said. "She is extremely caring, professional, loves her kids and loves her coworkers. This year she had a fantastic year. Her kids were great. You could tell they learned every day of the year.

"She came up with so many fun, exciting activities for kids to do. Whatever subject she was teaching she made it interesting and fun for the kids and made sure they were the primary focus. It's always that way in her class. She wants her kids to excel and grow. It's wonderful to see that all the years of work she has put in that she is able to see this happen this year. I'm so proud and so excited for her."

One of the projects Anderson had this year was a fitness challenge with students recording their steps from a stepcounter and hosting weekly runs after school.

Anderson graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College with a degree in elementary education and earned a Master of Arts in reading from West Virginia University.

"Growing up, really education was the only profession that I was exposed to more than any other profession and that is why I got into education," she said. "I watched all of my teachers do what they do and wanted to do that. I just keep doing it because I love it."

She is finishing her 20th year in teaching in Upshur County.

"Tennerton is where I grew up," she said. "This is where I went to school. My peers are some of the more seasoned educators in Upshur County who teach here. They are an amazing group of educators and I am honored to be their choice and also Upshur County's choice."

Due to COVID-19, Upshur County Schools have been closed to in-person instruction since mid-March meaning Anderson hasn't seen her class outside of Zoom meetings.

"At the beginning of the week, I send out a 'choice board' with some digital activities and some non-digital activities," she said. "I look forward to them sharing pictures with me of the work they have done and fielding lots of questions. We have lots of online learning they are doing."

But the Zoom meetings where she can see their faces and her students can talk to each other are her favorite time of the week.

Anderson said she missed her students and wished they could have been there for the award presentation.

"The last couple months have been heartbreaking because for the fifth graders, this is their final year here in elementary school and we are just trying to make sure that they are ready for middle school," she said. "It's been heartbreaking to not have them in front of me."

Anderson said she thinks parents will get a lot more credit now and also that parents will give teachers a little more credit because they see the work the teachers are putting in.

At the fifth-grade level, Anderson sees her students doing work without her but with support from home.

Dr. Sara Stankus, superintendent, said, "During the past month, we have all had a time of reflection. One of my lessons learned is the realization of the importance of the relationship between a good teacher and his/her students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a greater understanding that the value of a teacher inspires in ways we can't quite measure, but we still know their worth is beyond measure."

Stankus congratulated Anderson who will go on to represent Upshur County in the statewide Teacher of the Year Competition.