The Teacher of the Year award and New Teacher of the Year award honor two teachers who have shown exceptional teaching skills along with an unwavering dedication to both the school and the students. This year, the chosen teachers were Mr. Browning–who works in the English department and is a co-sponsor for Panther Crew–and Mrs. Johnson–who joined this fall and has been a great asset to the staff ever since! Both educators are honored to represent the school in such a positive light.

Mr. Browning shares his excitement about winning Teacher of the Year.

“I honestly was a bit surprised and flattered. We have a lot of excellent teachers at this school who I look up to and try to model my own teaching after, so it’s a huge compliment to be selected,” Browning said.

The English teacher also expresses his passion for teaching, saying his favorite part is seeing his students grasping the meaning of the lessons.

“The best part of the job for me is that moment when we’re discussing a few complex ideas in class and students begin making the analytical connections between them that unlock the meaning of the text. Watching the light bulb come on for students across the classroom, then the conversation shifting into something deeper is a thrilling thing to see,” Browning said.

While Browning finds pride in his work, there are still challenges he has to face. For example, he explains how it is difficult when his students aren’t grasping the information from the lesson.

“I’d say the hardest part is when I struggle to help students make the connections. I believe that every student is capable of finding these deeper meanings in our texts, so I take it as a personal failure when it’s not happening. Fortunately, failure usually is just an opportunity to learn a new approach, and I like learning new things. But, until I find the way, it can be difficult,” Browning said.

Despite these challenges, Mr. Browning still remains positive about his career in teaching.

The other teacher who received an award was Mrs. Johnson; who won New Teacher of the Year and expresses her gratitude for being nominated.

“During my second block, I went to check my email and saw that I had received New Teacher of the Year. I honestly could not believe it. I started crying out of shock. One of my students saw me crying and asked if I was ok. I decided to announce to my class that I received the award and when I told them, they gave me a standing ovation. It was the sweetest experience ever,” Johnson said.

To Mrs. Johnson, the best part of being a teacher is being able to connect with her students. She enjoys her classroom being a safe space for students.

“My favorite part of the job is the feeling that kids WANT to spend time with me in my classroom. I love that my students feel that they can walk into my classroom at any time to ask for advice, ask for a snack, or just hang out. I am so incredibly grateful for the relationships I have made with my students and I am excited to get to see these students grow and see the young adults that they will be. I feel so privileged that I get to play a small part in that growth,” Johnson said.

When asked to give advice to fellow new teachers, Mrs Johnson said that the best thing to do was to form a strong relationship with your students. In her experience, this takes away a great deal of stress and makes school easier for everyone.

“The best advice I would give to new teachers is that building strong relationships with students is the absolute best thing that you can do. When you have good relationships with your students, the rest of the job becomes so much easier. I also recommend having the mentality that your classroom also belongs to the students. If your classroom is a safe space for students, they will want to spend time there. For me, that experience has made my students more likely to do academic work and it just makes school easier for everyone,” Johnson said.

Both Mr. Browning and Mrs. Johnson are excited about winning their respective awards. They cannot wait to see what their future at LCHS will look like!