CUMBERLAND – Cumberland County Public Schools' Teacher of the Year recognition for this academic year was awarded to Heather Storrie Sutton during Cumberland's School Board meeting this month.

She received the Teacher of the Year honor for Cumberland High School and then was chosen as the division's overall teacher for the school year.

She's a special education teacher at the high school and says teaching is more than “just giving them the academic skills that they need to survive in order to graduate.” It's also about “giving them the life skills they need to survive in this game of life.”

According to Elizabeth Jamerson, Cumberland's director of human resources and School Board clerk, co-teaching has provided Sutton the opportunity to work with various grade levels, in different content areas, and with many teachers.

The Teacher of the Year honoree from Cumberland Elementary School is Emily Wilson Overstreet. The Middle School's Teacher of the Year is Stacy Lynn Rublee.

Overstreet is the art teacher at the elementary school and believes her last three years have been a “challenging and rewarding experience.”

“I love what I do,” said Overstreet, when asked to provide information for the presentation.

According to Jamerson's presentation to the School Board, Overstreet gets “a chance to build a relationship with her students and watch them grow as artists” while teaching art classes.

According to Overstreet's provided information for the nomination, she says it's gratifying to know that she's been a positive impact in her students' lives.

Every lesson taught by Overstreet corresponds with a Virginia SOL, whether it's history, math, or science. She links her lessons with what is going on in other classrooms, according to Jamerson.

“Art isn't just painting or drawing, it's helping students with the bigger picture and pushing them to develop and use critical thinking,” provided Overstreet.

Rublee, an English teacher at the middle school, believes that all children can learn.

“No matter what type of socioeconomic or academic background of the individual, all children can learn,” she provided.

Rublee's teaching theory is, according to Jamerson, “What works for one may not work for all.”

“Being a part of the literacy team at Cumberland Middle School has been a wonderful experience…,” noted Rublee in her information.

Rublee focuses on what the student's style of learning is and adjusts her instruction to best fit the needs of the students, offered Jamerson.

“She inspires students to succeed by making real-world connections to the material that is presented,” Jamerson continued. “Stacy feels that this helps them understand major concepts that are presented to them. She holds very high expectations for each student because she expects them to try their very best and put forth their best effort in her class.”

Sutton is in her fifth year coaching in the school's soccer program and has coached volleyball for two years.

“When she was in high school, it was her coaches who had the most influence on her and her academic decisions,” described Jamerson before presenting Sutton with her plaque. “Now she finds herself trying to be that positive influence for the student-athletes that she works with every day.”

Sutton stated in her provided information for the nomination, “We all, as a unit, continue to do our best to encourage them to make good choices and reiterate to them that they can do anything as long as they are willing to put the work in.”

According to Jamerson, Sutton's name has also been entered in the Region 8 Teacher of the Year contest.