Daily Reporter staff reports
FORTVILLE — The Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation has awarded Teacher of the Year honors to Terry Trowbridge, art teacher at McCordsville Elementary School (MES) and Tom Shaver, technology education teacher at Mt. Vernon High School. Trowbridge took the honors as a primary teacher, and Shaver received the award as a secondary teacher.
Trowbridge previously worked three years for Indianapolis Public Schools and has been at MES for three years. He produces Youtube videos teaching kids how they can continue practicing art at home and produces the Pirate News videos as well as several other district videos.
“My teaching style starts with my own passion for art,” Trowbridge said. “I believe a teacher needs to exhibit the environment and behavior they want their students to model. My students pick up on my own enthusiasm for learning, and it becomes contagious.”
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Shaver has worked 31 years at Mt. Vernon High School teaching various classes including welding, small engine repair, metalworking, drafting and Computer-Aided Design (CAD). He has also held various athletic coaching positions and taught adult classes.
To keep up with the ever-changing technology industry, Shaver spends many hours on the weekends at Mt. Vernon researching new technology processes and techniques that he will eventually share with his students.
“To be the best teacher I can be requires me to communicate to ALL of my students that I genuinely care about them and would help them succeed in any way I could,” Shaver said. “I tell them that being challenged with a problem is okay, not understanding is okay and life in and out of the classroom is full of obstacles that can be overcome.”
The Teacher of the Year award has been re-established for the staff at Mt. Vernon and is sponsored by the Mt. Vernon Education Foundation. Each of the five schools nominated two teachers to be recognized for their outstanding commitment to their students, being an exemplary leader as well as for their dedication to the teaching profession.
Other nominees for the award included: Jennifer Strantz and Kelsey Sager, Fortville Elementary; Shona Kelly, McCordsville Elementary; Cathy Ringham and Amy McCleery, Mt. Comfort Elementary: Debbie Thomas and Amanda Hill, Mt. Vernon Middle School; and Trista Hurst, Mt. Vernon High School.
