Spire Spring 2017

Bluefield College School of Education Produces Award-winning Teachers

B luefield College’s Teacher Education Program has produced another award- winning teacher. Emily Reynolds, a 2013 graduate of BC’s School of Education, was recently named Teacher of the Year at Eastern Elementary and Middle School in Pembroke, Virginia.

“I love using reading as a way to help students become better people and to learn empathy for others,” said Reynolds about the core values she took from Bluefield College. “I want to teach my students what they need to know not only for fifth grade language arts, but also to be productive, caring human beings.” Reynolds said her time spent in observation and student teaching with mentor teachers helped inspire and guide her into becoming the teacher she is today. The professors at Bluefield College, like Phyllis Owens, Dr. Donna Watson, Tamara Williams and Dr. April Workman, she added, ensured that she and her classmates were prepared to deliver quality instruction, manage a classroom, and create a productive learning environment. She said they gave her a valuable understanding of instructional technology and how it can be incorporated into the classroom, but more importantly challenged her to go above and beyond what is required. “That mentality has driven the work I do each day in my classroom,” said Reynolds. “I am very thankful for my career preparation at Bluefield College. It was a privilege to learn from instructors who were as dedicated to mentoring new teachers as they were to the students they taught throughout their own careers.” While a student at Bluefield College, Reynolds was the recipient of the school’s Gerald Clay Scholar Award, Teachers of Promise Award, Delta Kappa Gamma Education Award, and Student Virginia Education Association (SVEA) Service Award. She was also named a Virginia Collegium Scholar by the Beazley Foundation and served as president of SVEA, a senator for Student Government, and a member of Alpha Chi National Honor Society and Pi Lambda Theta National Honor Society. “I have no doubt that my time in the BC education program prepared me above and beyond to hit the ground running as a teacher,” said Reynolds. “I think most teachers would agree we went into this career to better the lives and futures of our students, because we felt called to meet this crucial position in society. I feel honored to have been chosen as a representative of this profession and the work teachers do day in and out for students.”

outcomes 30 Teacher of the Year Emily Reynolds (‘13).

Reynolds has been a fifth grade reading and language arts teacher at Eastern since 2014. She also serves as a facilitator for the school’s Language Arts Committee, which brings teachers together to discuss schoolwide goals and programs related to reading, grammar, composition and spelling. She helps plan family reading nights, volunteers with after school events, and works with struggling students in after school remediation. “What I enjoy most about teaching is seeing students succeed and grow often in ways they didn’t feel were possible,” said Reynolds, who worked as a reading workshop aid at Dudley Primary School in Bluefield, Virginia, before moving to Eastern. “I want my students to leave my classroom knowing they are capable of doing whatever they set their minds to. The staff at Eastern is like one big family, and I feel very honored to have been chosen as Teacher of the Year by my colleagues. I am inspired and encouraged every day by the hard work and dedication of the teachers around me, and I am thankful that they can see that same commitment to our students from me.” A native of Falls Mills, Virginia, Reynolds said she enjoyed that same sense of family while a student at Bluefield College, where professors, she said, demonstrated genuine care for her, took time to get to know who she was, and challenged her to be a better person and to make the world a better place.

Story by BC student marketing associate Whitney Browning.