Browsing: Teachers

Kelly Mahan, center, is flanked by her husband, Chris, on left, and children, Max, 5, Ava, 3, and Henry, 7. Also pictured is CCPS chief academic officer Sharon Pope. (Caleb M. Soptelean photos) Kelly Mahan holds the cake that was made for her celebration last week. A Matoaca High School sports medicine and health and physical education teacher was recently named Chesterfield County Public Schools’ High School Teacher of the Year. Kelly Mahan, 39, was chosen from among 14 teachers who won the top teacher awards at their Chesterfield high schools. School district officials presented Mahan with the award during…

Chesterfield County Public Schools’ teachers of the year from the Village News’ coverage area are listed below. Elementary schools •Bellwood Elementary: Amanda McCullough •Bensley Elementary: Kelly McDougald •Beulah Elementary: Lauren Pilgrim •Marguerite Christian Elementary: Sarah Robenson •Curtis Elementary: Kimberly Burnett •Ecoff Elementary: Lauren Watts •Enon Elementary: Debra Lewis •Ettrick Elementary: Anna Reilly •Falling Creek Elementary: Mark Erickson •Gates Elementary: Crystal Walker •Harrowgate Elementary: Kristen Callan •Hening Elementary: Shawn Sthreshley •Hopkins Elementary: Lauren Harlow •Jacobs Road Elementary: Ashley Carroll •Matoaca Elementary: Christa Godfrey •Salem Church Elementary: Melissa Anderson •Elizabeth Scott Elementary: Kaitlyn Festa •Wells Elementary: Lisa Coffey Middle schools •Carver Middle:…

A teacher from Thomas Dale High School was assaulted while in the classroom on Wednesday, April 22, and the injuries sent the teacher to the hospital, police said. As a result, the Chesterfield Educational Association sounded a Mayday. “It was reported that a 15-year-old male student threw his backpack and two chairs at a (female) teacher,” Chesterfield police spokeswoman Elizabeth Caroon said. “During the incident, the student also damaged a school laptop and pulled a fire alarm.The woman, whose glasses were broken during the incident, was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A police officer filed a…

On June 14, Curtis Elementary will be saying goodbye to its music teacher. Randy McConnell has taught at the elementary school for 25 years. All told, McConnell has been teaching for 39 years, including time in Tennessee, North Carolina and Lunenberg County, Va. He said he is retiring because it’s time. “Someone told me years ago, ‘Randy, you’ll know when it’s time,’ and I did. I know it’s time.” A native of east Tennessee, McConnell – who plays piano and organ – had an affinity for music at a young age. It was his choice to take lessons he said,…

Even when school is over for the day, Maia Johnson feels like she never leaves Carver Middle because she still sees her students in the neighborhood. Johnson makes sure to keep an eye on her students. “Them knowing ‘Miss Johnson really cares about me and my well-being’… is the best part of my job,” she said. Johnson has been Carver Middle’s school counseling coordinator for two years. She was a counselor for seven years and has worked nine years in the education field. She was previously a special education teacher at an alternative school in Petersburg and an elementary school…

Ann Robbins, on left, and Nancy Byrd at their college graduation in 1954. Ann Robbins, on left, and Nancy Byrd reminisce about their teaching career, college days and marriages. The women have been taking daily walks together for 55 years. (Radiant Snapshots) “We knew each other before we knew our husbands,” Nancy Byrd said of her friend, Ann Robbins. “So it’s funny that Nancy married a Byrd and I married a Robbins,” Ann said, pointing out the avian connection to their married names. But their strikingly related surnames are not the only thing the two women have in common. Both…

Leah Kovack with ‘Charlie the Drum’ Leah Kovack, the music teacher at Matoaca Elementary School, enjoys providing personal time to students because it tends to pay off in the end. When one student couldn’t play “Hot Cross Buns” on a recorder, Kovack had one-on-one time with her during recess and the girl, now in the fifth grade, can play “Old MacDonald Had A Farm.” “It’s wild, and a lot of times you think it’s not gonna happen, but if you’re investing the time and they are, then it does and it’s like magic,” Kovack said. “To watch her just a…

Bellwood Elementary’s 2019 Teacher of the Year said he didn’t want to be a teacher when he was growing up. Robert Nichols said his dreams changed as he went along and that being a teacher is where he needed to be. Nichols grew up in Buffalo. Prior to teaching, he was in the New York National Guard and the Army. His military service paid for his first college degree and still influences his current profession as he has high expectations and provides motivational talks for his students. After working as a school occupational therapist for nearly a decade, Nichols said…

Albert Davis’ favorite thing about being a teacher is when the light bulb comes on for his students. Davis is a collaborative special education math teacher at Matoaca Middle School. “When you see the kids learn, and they make that connection – and especially kids [who] struggle, because most of the kids I teach really struggle – that’s the most exciting thing about the job for me.” Originally from Marbury, Md., Davis said a football scholarship brought him to the University of Richmond. He majored in speech communication and theater because he had an interest in building sets (his father…

Meghan Wilberger Despite her short time as a teacher, hard work has already resulted in Meghan Wilberger being named Teacher of the Year at Falling Creek Elementary School. Wilberger, who has only been teaching for five years, said she was surprised by the honor. Wilberger didn’t know what she wanted to do when she was younger, but knew she wanted to work with kids. In high school, she was in a club that would go to the elementary school in the morning and work with the students on any subject. For her college internship, Wilberger worked with second-grade students and…