• Jennifer Henson, Nominated by a Parent

Ms. Henson has demonstrated meaningful project-based learning.  She had her students celebrate themselves by writing about their favorite part.  In addition, she took a lesson on writing and turned it into an incredible project-based learning opportunity which allowed her students work to be published in a keepsake book and allowed her students to become published authors.  This was incredible!

• Dr. Crystal Hurd, Nominated by a Colleague

Dr. Hurd’s involvement in the Appalachia Writing Project got her foot in the door with Adriana Trigiani’s Origin Project which is an effort to publish local students.  Her involvement has now allowed over 200 students to be published.  Crystal also is in charge of “The Tapestry” which is a literary magazine that features students’ photography, writing, compositions, and artwork.  Her work with this over the last 6 years has allowed countless students to achieve the honor of being in a published work.  Her dedication to her students is amplified by her involvement on the VHSL Publication Committee.  She is tirelessly working to showcase the talent BVPS has to offer.  Crystal has taken on a role for her department on the VHS School Climate Team.  She is working outside her contract time with a team of other professionals to help improve VHS to be the best it can be.

• Oles Miller, Nominated by a Colleague

Mr. Miller goes above and beyond every day. Mr. Miller retired and then drove a bus for 21 years for BVPS as well as became a Para Pro 16.5 years ago.  He has been employed for 26 total years at BVPS.  He rarely misses work; he is always early . He keeps our music going, our classroom happy, and our hearts full of wisdom, fun, and love.  Everyone in the building loves him. He will never let you down professionally or personally. He is a friend, dad, and granddad to many of us and our students. Mr. Miller is our entire school’s coffee barista.  He arrives early every morning and makes coffee for the staff in the library. He helps our special education students to their class when they arrive early. He is loved by every student, and they all want to sit near him and have conversations. He does one on one classwork with many of our students that need a little more attention. He drives our activity bus everywhere we need to go, which is a lot of places most weeks. He is the one that keeps our kids happy and our staff moving. Mr. Miller is our situational responder. He is the calm in all our lives. He will calm our students when their cup is just too full. He is the calm when Mrs. Mumpower is too hyper, he is the calm when we have early dismissals, fire drills, lock down drills, and when we just have too much dance party.  He is our grouch some days and our big smile most. He is our biggest fan, and greatest encourager. There is not anything this man cannot do. He is the best and we all love him.

• Debra Read, Nominated by a Parent

Mrs. Read consistently offers excellent resources and advice to me regarding my son's special needs. She is always incredibly kind and never acts like my son is too difficult to handle (even though I know he can be wild some days). She knew I was struggling through the IEP process with my son and I felt discouraged, so she gave me a book on the topic that helped so much. She went out of her way to bring that book to me. She is so good to my son and has helped us through this journey more than she knows.  My son struggles with communication and Mrs. Read offers him safety and patience every day. Her patience with him has helped him become comfortable at school. During dismissal, she always lets Sammy try to walk on his own and carry his own bookbag. She safely allows him to be independent. The way she handles his needs encourages growth while also ensuring the highest safety standard. During an IEP progress meeting, Mrs. Read stayed to discuss Sammy with me and his teacher. I was very discouraged because he wasn't meeting any goals and she could sense it. She is so wise and always knows the perfect thing to say. She helped me stay grounded and gave me a lot of hope. Her calm demeanor rubs off! She has nurtured an excellent relationship with us, and we consider her family.