Every year, the teachers of Chelsea High School come together to cast a vote for teacher of the year. They vote for who they believe to have served with the most excellence for the year. For the 2021-2021 school year, Chelsea High School elected Mrs. Smith as teacher of the year. Mrs. Smith has been working at Chelsea High School for 6 years in the English department. She has taught honors 9th grade English the entirety of her career at Chelsea. However, this year she added Ap Language and Composition to her course load.

Smith went to Auburn University for her Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary English Education and University of Alabama for her Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology. She also attended week-long training course at the University of Alabama to prepare herself to teach AP Lang. Although she originally grew up in Boaz, she came to Chelsea in search of a welcoming community and found just that. 

“Chelsea is a growing community, so just during my time here I’ve noticed a lot of exciting changes; the people I work with, my students and their parents have always been really kind and supportive!” Smith says. 

Smith pushes for creativity in her classroom. Since the teachers vote for Teacher of the Year, students are allowed the chance to vote for Buzzworthy Teacher of the Week. Smith was awarded the Creative Teacher Buzzworthy Award. This award was voted for by the students of all four grades. Smith has also won the “Kindness Counts” Buzzworthy Teacher of the Week. A recent assignment Smith gave to her Ap Lang class required a great amount of creativity. The students had to pick a Disney villain and write a speech validating their evil acts. Her classes had to make a poster including evidence from the villain’s movie on why their actions were validated. Each body part on the character represented a trait of the character. For example, the mouth represented communication and the students had to explain how their specific character communicates with others. Gracie Streelman, a student in Smith’s 4th period, loves her class!.

“Every time I walk into Mrs. Smith’s room, I feel welcomed and I know I am going to enjoy the entire period!” Streelman says.

This year, Smith began teaching AP Language and Composition for the first time. She now teaches 9th and 11th grade. Smith went to The new change has changed her average school day for the better. 

“Teaching two grades because it keeps things interesting! I’m able to not get tired of going over the same thing because having two prep periods breaks that up some.” Smith says. “There is definitely a large contrast between freshmen and juniors, But I enjoy the change of pace!” 

Mrs Smith is an amazing asset to Chelsea High School and the Chelsea community!