A+ Educators: Congrats to these local educators!

Last year we created an award program to highlight teachers and staff members at local schools that go above and beyond in their service to their students and colleagues. The A+ Educators Awards are our way of saying thank you to the teachers and staff that are making a difference. Each of the current winners will also receive a gift certificate to Remedy Burger in Staunton to celebrate their success!

This Month’s Winners 👏

Upper School Winner: Hunter Murray
Position: Biology and Environmental Teacher
School: Stuart Hall

Hunter is our Upper School Biology and Environmental teacher, but he is so much more than that. Hunter is a lover of the outdoors and has facilitated many hikes throughout the Shenandoah Valley for our students, created a Frisbee Golf course on our campus, and has crafted and re-crafted many innovative classes including our latest: Game Theory. Hunter has a creative way of making science come to life in class, including mystery-solving, debates, and forensic court cases. Hunter has served as a department chair and a dorm parent, as well as a full-time teacher.

Upper School Winner: Brad Arnold
Position: History Teacher
School: Stuart Hall Middle School

Brad is our most veteran teacher at Stuart Hall. He has been here for over 20 years and is a direct descendant of the original founder of Stuart Hall. Brad is an Upper School History teacher, but he has served a plethora of roles at STU. He has served as a dorm parent from time to time for a total of 8 years living on campus. He is the faculty advisor to our Honor Council. He hosts Friday night badminton competitions for students. He designed an extra-curricular and a class called Design for Community that offers our community miniature paper models of buildings in downtown Staunton and beyond. These can be found on Facebook at "Build Your Own Staunton." In the academic setting, he is very intuned to students’ and in order to be inclusive of all students, he has designed and redesigned courses to meet students’ varying needs and abilities. His reflective nature used in this manner is why our young alums often write back to tell us how valuable his classes are to their college experience.

Elementary School Winner: Tricia Thompson
Position: 2nd Grade Teacher
School: Churchville Elementary

Mrs. Thompson is recognized for her perpetual eagerness to learn, create, and share with others on her team, in her school, and across the division. Tricia creates an atmosphere in her classroom that excites and engages her students. The 5 Cs are evident as she builds relationships with her students throughout the year.

Middle School Winner: Jason Nave
Position: Science Teacher
School: Wilson Middle School

Mr. Nave is highly creative. He is consistently looking for ways to bring science to life for his students. Some examples include purchasing a variety of materials from Lowe’s and Home Depot in order for students to create their own roller coasters. In addition, he brings in real-world examples of force and energy using a variety of matchbox cars and ramps. Every time students are asked what they’re doing and why they can give precise answers using tier 3 scientific vocabulary and explain how it relates to something they could potentially do or are currently doing. He’s a marvelous collaborator and always has a smile and kind words for everyone around him. He is very conscientious and vigilant in all he does. We’re honored to have him at Wilson Middle school.

High School Winner: Vickie Lilley
Position: Business and Marketing Teacher
School: Wilson Memorial High School

For years, Ms. Lilley has had the only Marketing program in Augusta County. Her Marketing Students involved in DECA have run the school store at WMHS for several years. This year, Ms. Lilley took on the additional challenge of piloting a new Work-Based Learning program. With no former experience in this area, and visiting businesses after school, Ms. Lilley used her enthusiasm and student focus to promote the program and energize the students and local employers. In this first year of the program she has had over 80 students participate in internships with participating businesses. Even more impressive is that WMHS didn’t have any former program to build on - she built this from zero students involved. The enrollment in work-based learning at WMHS is due to Ms. Lilley’s drive to provide this opportunity for students.

Congratulations to all of the A+ Educators award winners! We appreciate everything you do to make sure students in our community have an excellent education.

If you have questions about your MGW services, we’d love to talk with you. You can reach us at (540) 712-0200 or by emailing us.