February 27, 2019
By: Dwayne Page
Second in series of five stories. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
Almost 40 years ago Vicky Hawker embarked on a career path that she has thoroughly loved and enjoyed and today her passion for teaching is just as strong as when she began.
Hawker is this year’s Teacher of the Year at Smithville Elementary School and she is among four other educators being considered for DeKalb County Teacher of the Year.
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Born and raised in DeKalb County, Hawker was educated in the school system here from first grade to high school and then went on to college where she earned a Bachelor’s, Master’s, and an Education Specialist (EdS) degree from MTSU.
Although she has changed classrooms three times, Hawker has taught at the same school her entire career working with first graders. “I teach reading, math, spelling, phonics, language, writing, and we combine science and social studies in with the reading,” she said.
Although changes in teaching methods and standards have come along the way, Hawker said she has been able to adapt. “Teaching has been more challenging in the last 10 years with the new technology, report cards, evaluations, and portfolios but I still love teaching and I love the kids,” she said.
Asked how she reacted to having been named Teacher of the Year at Smithville Elementary, Hawker said “I was really excited that my peers voted for me. That was a great honor”.
And if she were to be selected as the DeKalb County Teacher of the Year, Hawker said that would be even more special. “It’s already been great to be selected at the school level but for DeKalb County that would be really awesome,” added Hawker.
When she began her career, Hawker said her goal was to teach for at least 40 years but don’t look for her to retire anytime soon. “ I am not thinking about it right now. I haven’t decided to go yet,” concluded Hawker.
In addition to Hawker, this year’s honorees are Justin Nokes, seventh grade World History teacher at DeKalb Middle School; fifth grade teacher Cheryl Vandagriff at Northside Elementary School; Jessica Antoniak, a sixth grade math and science teacher at DeKalb West School; and Linda Parris, a family and consumer sciences/culinary arts teacher at DeKalb County High School.
WJLE will be featuring each of the five Teachers of the Year at the school level through next Tuesday. A feature on Justin Nokes aleady appears further down this page under local news.