Teacher of the year named
Published: August 18, 2005
“A child is not a vessel to be filled but rather a lamp to be lit.”
This Hebrew proverb was the message Joyce Chapman from Rich Valley Elementary School left her fellow teachers with on Monday when she spoke to them at the annual teacher of the year luncheon. Chapman was the 2005 Smyth County Teacher of the Year.
Held at The Restaurant at Hungry Mother State Park, the luncheon recognized those educators selected as 2006 teachers of the year from each of the county’s 14 schools. “Dedication is what brings you here,” said Jerry Catron representing the Smyth County School Board. “All of you have brought distinction to your school and your school community.”
Catron spoke briefly before the presentation of the awards. A former teacher himself, he told the teachers it was a compliment to receive such an award from their colleagues.
Among the teachers recognized was Damon Mazoff, who was chosen as the 2006 Smyth County Teacher of the Year. A teacher at Marion Senior High School, Mazoff said he was honored to receive the award. “But just as all of you do, I get up every morning and go to work in the classroom,” he said. “I represent everybody here.”
Mazoff has taught in Smyth County for five years. He and his wife, also a teacher at Marion Senior High School, came from Pennsylvania. Superintendent of Schools Jim Sullivan said among Mazoff’s accomplishments has been his effective use of technology in teaching. “He exemplifies what we are all about,” Sullivan said.
The 2006 teachers of the year were Joyce Collins from Atkins Elementary, Amy Blevins Robertson from Chilhowie Elementary, Cindy L. Campbell from Marion Intermediate, Lisa Long Rigely from Marion Primary, Angela Clear Holmes from Rich Valley Elementary, Bryan Kestner from Saltville Elementary, Melissa A. Lee from Sugar Grove Combined, John L. Sabo from Chilhowie Middle, Kelly Parnell from Marion Middle, Shelley Wyatt Waddle from Northwood Middle, Paula Stamper from Chilhowie High, Mazoff from Marion Senior High, Alan B. Copenhaver from Northwood High and Arvin D. Hayden from the Smyth Career & Technology Center.
Members of the selection committee who chose the teacher of the year were Susan Bonham, Lydia Glenn and Anne Shultz. “This was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done,” said Glenn in describing the hard choice the committee had to make in choosing one teacher for the county award.
In introducing Chapman as the guest speaker, Sullivan described her as being as excited this year as she was last year when she was chosen as the 2005 teacher of the year. “Her passion is one that you can’t buy,” he said. “It has to come from inside.”
Instead of talking about herself and her work in the classroom, Chapman chose to offer her fellow teachers bits of inspiration as they prepare to start the new school year. “Humor is something I find I need in the classroom,” she said before reading them a humorous poem about a teacher who falls asleep in the classroom.
This was followed by the reminder that all kids are gifted, “but some just open their packages later than others.”
Turning to humor again, she recommended that all teachers send the following note home to parents: “If you promise not to believe everything your child tells you about what happens at school, I promise not to believe everything your child tells me about what happens at home.”
However, when Chapman talked about the importance of parents and teachers working together to help the student grow, she was all seriousness and struggled with tears as she read the poem “Unity,” which described parents and teachers working together as sculptors to create a successful, happy student.
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