Six are chosen as county's 2001 'Teachers of the Year'

By Lynn Hotaling

Six educators, one from each county school, were nominated last spring by their peers for the honor. Five competed for this year's countywide title by compiling a portfolio and participating in an interview process.

This year's individual school Teachers of the Year are Pat Palmer, Scotts Creek; Novella Greer, Fairview; Betty Foti, Smoky Mountain High; Stacy Stiwinter, Blue Ridge; Carol West, Cullowhee Valley; and Dora Robinson, Smokey Mountain Elementary. Greer chose not to compete for the county title due to family illness.

A committee consisting of last year's individual school winners and several area education professionals will select this year's county winner, who will then move on to state competition. First Union Bank sponsors the annual award, and Peggy Wike, community schools and media director for Jackson County Schools, coordinates the competition.

Five of the six nominees made presentations and answered questions from the selection committee Aug. 17. Information about all six individual school winners, as well as excerpts from interviews, speeches and portfolios, follows.

Pat Palmer

Novella Greer

Betty Foti

Stacy Stiwinter

Carol West

Dora Robinson

Pat Palmer

Scotts Creek

Currently a seventh- and eighth-grade math and science teacher at Scotts Creek, Palmer has 23 years of teaching experience.

A number of favorite teachers from her own public school days contributed to Palmer's choice of education as a career, she said. Other factors that influenced her included the presence of teachers in several generations of her family and a family atmosphere that encouraged making a positive difference through serving others.

According to Palmer, a teacher should be a role model because students learn more by watching the adults around them than they do by listening to what teachers say. Palmer sees her function as that of a facilitator who allows her students to acquire knowledge and "learn how to learn."

If she were chosen to represent Jackson County's teachers, her message would be that it's time to move education issues to the forefront, she said.

"We cannot afford to let education take a back seat even in times of budget crisis," Palmer said. "It is better to build a child than to repair an adult."

Fairview

Greer, named Fairview's Teacher of the Year, is in her fifth year of teaching. She began her career as a teacher assistant at Fairview in 1987 and subsequently obtained her teaching credentials at WCU, graduating in 1997. She began teaching second grade at Fairview that same year.

A Jackson County native, Greer said that one of her elementary school teachers, Clarence Hubbell, was a "strong influence" in her decision to become a teacher.

Her teaching philosophy involves viewing teaching as a "wonderful opportunity - an opportunity to touch the lives of many children in what will hopefully be a very positive experience for everyone involved."

Because children learn and grow in different ways, Greer said she incorporates different teaching styles and techniques so she can be successful at reaching each child.

"I believe that if we, as teachers, help build self-concept, encourage individualism and develop talent, we will have succeeded in accomplishing our goals," Greer said. "We will have helped children become the very best they can be, and they will be proud of themselves."

Betty Foti

Smoky Mountain High

Foti, who is in her 29th year of teaching, is a graduate of Mars Hill College. She has taught social sciences at Smoky Mountain High for the past 22 years.

Foti attributes her choice of a teaching career to a family belief that service to others is a priority. "I truly believe I have been 'called' to teach," she said.

Her philosophy of teaching is centered around the idea that teaching is one of the most trying, yet rewarding challenges in the job market today.

"Being a teacher is not what I do; it is who I am," she said.

Foti encourages her students to "buy into" their school.

"It is important that I support the entire curriculum as well as extracurricular activities," she said. "At each of the four schools where I have taught, I have contributed both in the classroom and with extracurricular activities. I am proud to be a Smoky Mountain Mustang. I am willing to do my share whether it is committee work, bus duty, sponsoring a club or attending a sporting event or school play."

Smoky Mountain High's nominee said that if she were selected Teacher of the Year, she would be an advocate for public education in North Carolina.

Stacy Stiwinter

Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge's Teacher of the Year is beginning her sixth year at the K-12 school. A 1995 WCU graduate, Stiwinter began as a kindergarten teacher and then moved up to fifth- and sixth-grade students. This year marks her return to the kindergarten classroom.

Her decision to choose teaching as a career was made while in college. Originally a business major, Stiwinter said she soon realized she was more interested in the way information was taught that in the information itself. Also, she said, her choice was influenced by the many outstanding teachers she had during her years as a student in Jackson County's schools.

In terms of a teaching philosophy, Stiwinter believes it's important for children to feel safe if they are to be successful.

"As a classroom teacher, my first priority is to create an environment where children can learn," she said.

The other facet of her teaching philosophy is that teachers must have a "genuine desire" to be in the classroom, she said.

"Just as teachers can tell if students are not interested, students can tell if teachers are not interested," she said. "My teaching style projects a compassion for my students and a sincere interest in the success of my class."

If she is named Teacher of the Year, Stiwinter's message would be that teachers need to teach what she calls "guiding principles" and remember that they are being watched by the children they teach.

"Great teachers know how to teach commitment, consistency, politeness, cleanliness and respect for others," she said.

Carol West

Cullowhee Valley

A teacher at Cullowhee for the past 12 years, West initially taught seventh- and eighth-grade science and now teachers seventh-grade science and social studies. She began her career with Jackson County Schools at Blue Ridge, where she taught high school science. A WCU graduate, West has 26 years of teaching experience.

West said she believes she was "destined to be a science teacher," and that the main factor that influenced her career choice is her "love and excitement for science" and the joy she felt in sharing those feelings with young people. She described her high school science teachers as "great," and said their example helped steer her toward a teaching career.

When asked to describe her teaching philosophy, West quoted the German philosopher Goethe: "Let not those things which matter most be at the mercy of those which matter least." The quote reminds her each day to focus on the most important outcome of her teaching - the child's performance, she said.

Her message, should she be selected Teacher of the Year, would be that teachers need to appreciate the differences among their students and use innovative teaching techniques to help all students achieve success.

"Our students are as diverse as the natural world, and each has their own special gift that is essential to the whole," West said. "I like to think children reflect our environment. You have the wild, untamed learner who reflects our oceans and whitewater rivers; the dreamer who represents the wide open sky; and the students who bring a shining light to share with all who might represent the stars."

Dora Robinson

Smokey Mountain Elementary

A math and science teacher for the past 12 years, Robinson has been part of Smokey Mountain's faculty for the past six. She previously taught in Transylvania County.

Robinson was led to a teaching career, she said, by "divine intervention."

"I had planned to major in business, and I was sitting in my first economics course one morning when it hit me: I wanted to be a middle school teacher, and I wanted to teach math and science," Robinson said. "It is a calling I have never regretted."

In summing up her teaching philosophy, Robinson said that she believes every student is capable of learning and that it is her job to discover what it takes to get students to learn and enjoy doing so.

"If I talk with my students about their interests, they will begin to open up to me," Robinson said. "If I care about what they care about, they will begin to care about me, science and math."

The message she would offer if selected Teacher of the Year, Robinson said, is that the best teachers love their subject and love children. Teachers should be both flexible and creative and provide a variety of activities for their students.

"If we take good care of kids, they will show compassion," Robinson said.

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