Missy Testerman: Finding Out I Was the National Teacher Year

I found out that I was National Teacher of the Year on my son's birthday, March 1st. It was a few days after the interview and I was cooking supper when Sarah Brown Wessling, the director of the National Teacher of the Year program called. I saw Sarah's name and number come up on my phone, and my first thought was, "She's calling to tell me who it was,” and I was going to be so happy for that person because each of the 55 members of our cohort are incredibly capable, energetic, wonderful teachers, and each of them would've been a perfect National Teacher of the Year as well. And so we chatted for just a minute, and then she said, well, it seems like a really good time to tell you that the National Teacher of the Year selection committee has chosen you as National Teacher of the Year.  

And then suddenly I was speechless, and I'm never speechless. And I can remember Sarah saying, “You don't have to talk. Just listen, and I will send this to you in an email later because you're not going to remember it.” So I was just incredibly in shock. I'm from a very small rural area. We're not used to having big things like this happening, and I was just incredulous because like I said, every member of that cohort is such a talented, wonderful, phenomenal teacher. So being the one who is able to advocate for all three and a half million of our country's teachers is just an immense honor that I can't explain.  

As National Teacher of the Year, I have learned that there are teachers in every school across this country who are investing every bit of time and energy and all the resources that they have into helping mold our students into productive citizens. And the passion that our teachers have for education is just awe-inspiring. I saw it in my school every single day. I saw it in my state when I was able to visit places and become friends with teachers from across the state, but it's the same all across our country. That's something that I've learned. I've also learned that when you're in the airport and someone finds out that you're a teacher, everyone in America has a teacher story. So sometimes the teacher story is a great story and it's really wonderful of how a teacher made an impact, and sometimes it's definitely a “do not do” story. And so, it's really made me reflect, people are going to talk about the things that we do that teachers do for a really long time. So, we really should make the things that we do good things so that these stories that live on long after us are good ones.