Published: May 09, 2008 02:09 pm            

Graduate from NA-FC schools now teacher of the year for corporation

To this day, Elizabeth Murphy can talk about the little things teachers from New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. did for her to make a difference.

So, she decided to become a teacher and to try her best to make that same kind of impact on others. Now, she is making that impact in the very school corporation she grew up attending.

“Some kids have to deal with very adult issues at home,” Murphy said. “So, I want to make my classroom a magical place. For me, it’s not just preparing them for the future, it’s making great memories for them.”

Murphy has been teaching English for 31 years. For 20 of those years, she has been in NA-FC schools. She now teaches at Highland Hills Middle School.

She said the trick to getting through to the kids, is getting them involved.

“You’ve got to engage the kids and make it fun and exciting,” she said.

All that work in the classroom has paid off. Thursday night at an awards banquet she was honored as the corporation’s Teacher of the Year.

“I’m so humbled, because I have worked with some awesome teachers,” Murphy said, as she dried the tears from her eyes. “This is symbolic of the teachers I work with, because this is a collaborative type of job. You can’t go at it alone.”

Murphy’s mother, husband and one of her two daughters were there to see her be surprised with the award.

“It’s very much deserved,” her daughter Anne Murphy said. “She’s given her heart and soul to teaching. She’s not satisfied until she sees each of her students succeed.”

“She’s a hard worker and she loves her students and loves to go to school,” Murphy’s mother Helen Baker said. “I’m just really proud of her.”

The work isn’t over yet. Murphy has to prepare for the state level competition, where she will be up against Teacher of the Year winners from every school corporation. The winner from there will go on to the national level, where they will compete for a chance to take a year off and travel the world as a spokesperson on education.

Murphy said education is who she is, through and through.

“Teaching is my life,” Murphy said. “I do it because I love it. I love the kids and the fact that I get to keep learning every day.”



NA-FC TEACHER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

• Sandra Curry, Business Teacher at Adult Learning Center

• James Lang, English/ journalism teacher at Floyd Central High School

• Martin Lipke, social studies/geography teacher at Hazelwood Middle School

• Laura McGuirk, counselor at New Albany High School

• Elizabeth Murphy, English teacher at Highland Hills Middle School

• Julie Rayborn, special education/ MIMD teacher at Scribner Middle School

• Connie Wallace, health occupations teacher at Prosser School of Technology

• Every other year, the corporation honors a secondary teacher. On the opposite year, they honor an elementary teacher.

        

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