This year’s teacher of the year is Tori Ramsey. She is an English teacher and has been teaching for eight years, all of which have been at SCHS. She went to Missouri University of Science and Technology at Rolla and was originally going to be an engineer. She then changed her mind because she really loves English and wanted to do something that allowed her to do what she liked. She wanted to be a teacher who works well with students and did for her students what her teachers had done for her in the past.
“I like working with students and I like seeing those moments where someone just really vibes with something or… that moment they just completely understand something new and it makes people feel like they can do anything.”
Ramsey’s favorite class to teach is AP Literature. She likes this class because they get to talk about the stuff she fell in love with in college. She also loves the long-winded conversations that they get to have. Her favorite memory she has from teaching is the first time she had a group of seniors go all the way through. She was happy to see the people she knew as freshman graduate and looks forward to that every year since.
Talan Mathus has Ramsey for English 4 and enjoys how free range she is with the topics students get to pick. He says that as long as he has the evidence to back something up, he can really write about anything. He also enjoys the jokes she throws into class and thinks it makes the class more fun.
“I like her… because she allows me to be me and actually write about what I want to write about and not something that is fake,” he said.
Kayla Gilmore is another SCHS English teacher and has been working with Ramsey for six years. She appreciates the connections that Ramsey makes between materials and the content she brings in. Ramsey’s students compare the different contents and that helps them better understand the material.. Gilmore has many good memories with Ramsey, but her favorite is the time she scared her outside of her classroom. Gilmore crept up behind Ramsey and said “Boo” very quietly, which caught her off guard. Ramsey then put her hand over her heart and had a good laugh with Gilmore.
“I just have a lot of good memories of her. She’s just a good person to hang out with here at school and outside of it.”
And the Award Goes to…
This year’s teacher of the year has finally been announced