Teachers of the Year

Krista Hinson was recently selected as building level Teacher of the Year to represent the Lewis County Elementary School. She currently teaches Physical Education at the Lewis County Elementary school and has been teaching this position for three years. She has a total of 21 years of teaching experience.

Ms. Hinson feels that success in Physical Education is different than that of a classroom environment. Her goal as a physical education teacher is to provide opportunities where her students can grow, learn, and thrive in their physical activities and health-oriented lessons. Her students learn how to show good sportsmanship, exhibit a helpful attitude towards others, and learn that physical activity is something that should be pursued, not avoided. Ms. Hinson 's students also participate in the American Heart Association fundraiser and Cardiovascular Endurance Challenge each year. She believes that success in PE also offer benefits in their academics. Physical Education is proven to increase students' level of physical activity, help to improve their grades and standardized test scores, and help them to stay on-task in the classroom.

She also believes that as a Elementary Physical Education teacher that she can offer the unique opportunity to see her students grow as a well-rounded student, academically, emotionally, and physically.

Becky Stewart was recently selected as building level Teacher of the Year to represent the Lewis County Intermediate School. She currently is RTI Coordinator for grades 3-5 at the Lewis County Intermediate School and has been in this position for five years. She has a total of 11 years of teaching experience. Mrs. Stewart is a member of National Teachers Association, Tennessee Education Association and National Education Association.

Ms. Stewart's job entails overseeing the school's Interventionists, their assigned roles and the students participating in RTI. She places students based on their academic needs, as well as which Interventionists that will best nurture them, academically and emotionally. Students that have succeeded will move up Tier levels. Her students use the skills taught in RTI for everyday experiences such as reading a book with a sibling, reading a menu in a restaurant, or simply reading for pleasure. She strives to make the entire RTI program a fun, enjoyable learning experience instead of making it about focusing on learning gaps. Ms. Stewart's door is always open and she is always available to help anyone in need.

Brooke Clayton was recently selected as building level Teacher of the Year to represent the Lewis County Middle School. She currently is the 6th grade ELA teacher at the Lewis County Middle School and has been in this position for seven years. She has a total of seven years of teaching experience.

In Ms. Clayton's classroom, students are required to take three benchmark tests throughout the school year. She stated that her overall goal is to have each student reach their TnReady projected scores by the last benchmark. She takes time to discuss and be transparent with her students about their own personal scores and data. Ms. Clayton believes that the students are the individuals who are putting in all the work and they deserve to know the reasoning behind why they are required to take the benchmarks and where they stand on each benchmark. Ms. Clayton helped create "Gold Cards" in the middle school. The Gold Cards are positive incentives for the students. The whole motivation behind this incentive was to help with chronic absenteeism and to encourage students to attend events that are held by the school.

Ms. Clayton's aim for her students is for progress over perfection in her classroom. Her reward is when her students go up one level and to see a child's face light up that they have shown improvement.

William Collier was recently selected as building level Teacher of the Year to represent the Lewis County High School. He is currently teaching Dual Credit American History, Economics and Personal Finance and has been teaching this position for three years. Mr. Collier has a total of five years teaching experience.

Mr. Collier believes that his role as an educator is to ensure the mental and emotional well-being of all of his students in the classroom, as well as educate them about our nation's past and where we're going as a society. He has built a strong rapport with his students and he knows that as an educator he was successful because they still reference significant events covered in class. He has a growing list of students gaining dual credit in their venture of American History after completing one of the most challenging exams offered in the state of Tennessee. One of his initiatives has been to help bring to the students is the Advance Placement Assess for All. This program is set towards providing advanced curriculum programs for a variety of subjects. Mr. Collier is a firm believer that these courses and programs will ensure their future success in college at the Associate's, Bachelor's, and possibly the Master's level.

Mr. Collier wants his students to engage in discussions in the classroom on what it means to be a good citizen in our society, as well as ensuring the importance of empathy and selflessness in terms of caring for others in our society.