Toni Poling is 2017 West Virginia Teacher of the Year

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In a state where teacher shortages remain an issue, the newly named Teacher of the Year says she plans to shine a positive light on education as she prepares to represent all teachers in West Virginia.

“It’s a great resource for the state of West Virginia and we need to keep our best and our brightest right here and get them into the classroom to serve our students, so that our state can move forward,” said Toni Poling, an 11th and 12th grade English teacher at Fairmont Senior High School in Marion County.

Poling was named the 2017 West Virginia Teacher of the Year during a ceremony, hosted by Governor Jim Justice’s Office, at the state Capitol Wednesday morning.

“It’s surreal,” she told MetroNews. “I’m not sure it’s been able to sink in yet.”

September 11, 2001 was Poling’s first day of student teaching. Since then, she said she strives to make the material relevant to her students’ lives.

Poling has been a teacher for 13 years and has taught at Fairmont Senior High School for the past 11 years. She graduated with a B.A. in English and Masters of the Arts in Secondary Education from West Virginia University.

Her passion for reading and English language arts started at an early age. At first, she wanted to become a lawyer, but then shifted her career path to become a teacher, where she could enjoy books and share that with her students.

Dr. Michael Martirano, state Superintendent of Schools, said Poling deserves the recognition because she truly cares about her students.

“People need to know that you care before they know what you know and so we truly know that she cares about our children every day. We know that young people are being educated fully, so I’m thrilled with her,” Martirano said.

The state currently has more than 700 teacher vacancies, Martirano said. It’s a challenging time, he said, but he knows Poling will be a strong leader when she meets with teachers from across the nation.

“We have challenges like a lot of states with high poverty, challenges in terms of our teacher vacancies, but the teachers that we have in our classrooms every day are very humble,” he said. “Toni, by all means, will be able to hold her own with all the other state Teachers of the Year. In fact, I know she’ll be probably leading them.”

Teachers across the Mountain State have expressed their concern over new U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who was confirmed Tuesday by Vice President Mike Pence’s tie breaking vote in the U.S. Senate. Poling said she has to respect the decision even though she was not in favor of DeVos.

“She would not have been my pick, but now that she’s in office, what I want to do, is work to have a positive relationship with the Secretary of Education as a national state Teacher of the Year,” she said.

Poling was awarded the keys to a 2017 Toyota Prius as well as a $5,000 check to from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia.

Governor Jim Justice said in statement:

“Toni Poling is a shining example of how great West Virginia’s educators truly are,” Justice said. “If we would just give our educators the freedom to teach, just imagine what our students could achieve. Our educators are under-appreciated and the truth is they have one of the most important jobs. We need to honor our teachers every single day for their hard work.”

Poling’s Teacher of the Year journey begins this week when she flies to Dallas, Texas to attend the National Teacher of the Year conference with fellow teachers from all 50 states.





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