Darcy Marchant, Charger Staff
Each year, the CHS faculty votes for the Teacher of the Year, and this year
the choice is Ms. Sharon Anderson, a lady who is respected and admired by all
who know her.
Perhaps this is because she allows herself to be inspired by the students as
she teaches them. Unlike many adults, she loves to be around teenagers and loves
to know their perspectives, because she knows she can never grow old as long
as she is around younger people.
Ms. Anderson says, “The most rewarding aspect of my job is when students
come back years after they have been in my class and tell me how much they have
learned and how I made a difference in their lives.”
In seventeen and a half years of teaching, she has constantly adapted to the
needs of each one of her students in order to ensure that they learn more than
they ever dreamed they could.
Ms.
Anderson has always been an achiever. Besides graduating from Baxter High School
as the valedictorian of her class, she was the Editor of the yearbook and was
involved in many other activities such as Beta Club and Junior Civitan (similar
to Interact). Her favorite subject has always been history, but she also occupies
her time in many other ways.
She loves to read, travel, cook, watch movies, and hang out with her friends
(sound familiar?).
Ms. Anderson cannot remember when she began wanting to teach, but she loved
her high school career and she was inspired by the way her teachers made learning
fun. After a very successful high school career, she attended Tennessee Tech
and graduated with a history major. She considers herself very fortunate to
have student taught under Mr. Jack Sallee in 1982.
Immediately after she graduated from Tech, she went to South Carolina for thirteen
years. She taught every subject in social studies except geography in grades
5-12. While in South Carolina, she was Teacher of the Year in 1994, while teaching
at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. Ms. Anderson was also named Teacher of
the Year in Orangeburg School District 5 in 1995.
After thirteen years of success, Ms. Anderson returned to Cookeville in the
fall of 1996, primarily to be of help to her parents. She acquired her Masters
degree in 2000, and is now certified to teach in many areas: history, computer
applications, and administration. She keeps busy by advising the school newspaper,
working with computers, sponsoring Interact. She is also the current President
of the Putnam County Education Association.
Ms. Anderson considers it a huge honor to be recognized by her peers.
To her colleages she would like to say, “Even though only one person can
chosen to represent CHS as the Teacher of the Year, we are all Teachers of the
Year to some student in our classrooms everyday. “
In her long, enjoyable, and highly successful teaching career, she gives the honor back to the CHS faculty by saying, “This is the finest faculty I have ever worked with.”
Home page | Archives | More February 2002 Articles