A Seymour teacher has been chosen as Sevier County’s Teacher of the Year for Middle Grades.
Seymour Middle School Math Teacher Debbie West was recently given the honor of being named one of Sevier County’s Teachers of the Year.
Nominations for one of the county’s Teachers of the Year begin at the building level when the faculty nominate the teacher from that school. Then the resumes and portfolios of those nominees are submitted to a system wide committee that reviews the applications.
That committee then selects a teacher of the year for the Sevier County School District for grades K through 4, grades one through eight and grades nine through 12.
Those teachers will then be considered in, and possibly nominated to become, state teacher of the year.
“One of the things that is very important in terms of the nominations of teacher of year is to nominate someone who has demonstrated creativity and a great deal of energy and motivation toward teaching children in a way that leads to academic progress, fulfillment of personal growth and development of those children,” said Sevier County School District Director of Curriculum Debra Cline.
She added that the committee looks for teachers who demonstrate outstanding strategies in the classroom and who have the capacity to not only tend to the academic needs of the children, but to also look at the whole needs of the child.
“In the example of Debbie West,” Cline said, “she actually volunteers to do tutoring before school with students who are struggling and need extra help.
 “She is known in her school as being creative and energetic for caring about the teaching and learning process in the sense that she wants each child to have the most and best education they can have each day.”
In Cline’s opinion West personifies what it takes to be awarded teacher of the year.
“She is someone who not only has a zeal for teaching, but actually blends that into a program that meets the very special needs of students,” Cline added.
West said it was a pleasant surprise to be named a county teacher of the year, and at first she was in shock.
“I know what the competition is like,” she said. “There are many excellent teachers in Sevier County, it was a really nice surprise.”
She found out about the honor at a school-wide assembly when Middle School Principal Faye Nelson brought her into the center of the gym and made the announcement.
“I was like ‘Oh my gosh’,” West said. “It is quite an honor and I am thrilled.”
For West the extra effort she puts in on the job pays off by seeing the results in the students.
She arrives to school every morning fifteen minutes before 7 a.m. to open up her room as a study hall for students who need extra help or time with their homework.
“Kids come in that need extra help with their math or just a quiet place to sit down and do their homework or do their reading,” she said. “I think students gain confidence in their math if I can sit down with them one on one and provide a little extra attention and a little extra explanation. Some of them need that.”
When there are 30 students in each class it is hard to give them all individual attention, she added, so the extra help is a bonus to those who may be struggling.
It is not only West’s students who come in for help however, her classroom is open to all of the middle school students and she is more than happy to lend a helping hand to any math student in the entire school
“Sometimes I get kids that come in and ask me to help them with their English, that I am not as good at, I‘ll stick to math,” she said jokingly.
West has been teaching at Seymour Middle School for seven years, but began her career as a first grade teacher in Sevier County in 1976 before she moved away with her family.
“I love it here in Sevier County,” she said. “When we moved I always meant to move back here.”
As for her favorite part about teaching, West said it is the knowledge that she has gotten through to her students.
“It is great when you see the light bulb turn on and the student has an ‘ah-ha’ moment when they understand something for the first time,” she said.

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