July 3, 2008
Teacher of the Year
The Petersburg City Public Schools announces its district-level winner for the 2008 Mary V. Bicouvaris Teacher of the Year award, Ms. Hallie Powers, who teaches English at Petersburg High School. Ms. Powers will now compete for the honor of Regional Teacher of the Year. The winner of that competition will compete for statewide and possibly national honors.
“Love of children is something that you cannot teach,” said Dr. Patrick Bingham, Petersburg City Public Schools Director of Human Resources, in making the announcement before the Board of the Petersburg City Public Schools.
Ms. Powers has taught for 31 years, 21 of them in the Petersburg City Public Schools. Being a successful teacher requires being part of a team, and she is grateful to have exceptional colleagues, she said.
“It has to be a collaborative effort with your department, to help the students grasp concepts more easily,” Powers said.
Most rewarding for her, she said, is seeing her students make the honor roll, graduate and go to college.
“They don’t realize how smart they are. I try to help them understand that,” Powers said.
The 2008 nominees from each of the Petersburg City Public Schools were:
Leslie Steele, JEB Stuart Elementary
Mary Barnes, A.P. Hill Elementary
Betty Knight, Peabody Middle School
Coretta Tate, Walnut Hill Elementary
Danielle Davis, Vernon Johns Middle School
Hallie Powers, Petersburg High School
Lisa Winfield, Robert E. Lee Elementary
Lesley Harris, Westview Early Childhood Education Center
and Annie Mickens, Blandford Academy.
For more information about the competition, click here.
Good luck to her at the regionals! Way to go Ms. Powers!
Hallie Powers (and her twin sister, too, who teaches down the hall from her!) is really a phenomenal teacher. both her students and her colleagues admire and respect her… and she gets the job done -well- often in spite of her environment. i couldn’t be more proud of her; she deserves this!