[E]AST MONTPELIER — High school mathematics teacher Katherine McCann was named Vermont’s 2017 Teacher of the Year during a schoolwide assembly at U-32 Middle and High School on Tuesday.
“The second I walked into her classroom, I knew that maybe this year math wouldn’t be so terrible,” said Lucy Wood, a student of McCann’s at U-32. “She is one of those teachers everyone hopes for in their lives.”
McCann is a veteran teacher with copious credentials, including teaching Advanced Placement courses in statistics, geometry, and algebra 1 and 2. She has national board certification in math and has won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching Math and Science.
“I have been blessed to have the opportunity to share the power and relevance of mathematics with my students each day,” said McCann in her address. She thanked Holcombe and the State Board of Education for their “tireless work toward a high-quality education for all of Vermont’s students.”
McCann is Vermont’s candidate for the National Teacher of the Year award that is given by the Council of Chief State School Officers in Washington, D.C. Next spring she will have an opportunity to meet the president at the White House.
Two other teachers were honored at Tuesday’s ceremony: Teacher of the Year alternate Rachael Potts, who is a special education teacher at Harwood Union High School in Duxbury, and distinguished finalist Corey Smith, a fourth-grade teacher at Proctor Elementary School.