Dr. Sergent, or better known as, Dr. S, at Woodford County High school has won two significant teacher awards. She was a winner for the Kentucky Valvoline Achievement Teacher Award, and also an even bigger award, she was named the Kentucky High School Teacher of the Year. Dr. S has been a fantastic teacher for many students, including me, at WCHS, and these awards are not a surprise to anyone. 

The Valvoline award occurred before the Teacher of the Year award, and 24 teachers were announced on July 18th as winners for the Valvoline award. There were 1,927 teacher nominations from all 171 school districts, just showing how difficult it was to win the award. All 24 winners received a cash prize, and of these 24 winners were put into the Teacher of the Year competition. Judging for the these awards was done by a panel of blue-ribbon veteran educators, and these educators looked for the teacher’s philosophy, experiences, involvement in schools and communities, and recommendation letters or messages. These 24 throughout the competition narrowed down to 11 and were named semi finalists for Teacher of the Year. Based on interviews along with application scores, three finalists were announced on September 20th at the ceremony in Frankfort. The three are for each elementary, middle, and high school. The 3 finalists also received custom glassware commemorating their achievements. The finalist with the highest cumulative score, Mandy Perez, goes on to represent Kentucky in the 2023 National Teacher of the Year competition.  Our teacher, Dr. Sergent, was one of the three finalists, and won the Kentucky High School Teacher of the Year award. Through multiple interview questions with Dr. S, it is clear that there are many factors that went into the award. 

A known fact about Dr. S is that she used to be an adjunct professor, at schools such as Northern Kentucky University and Gateway Community and Technical College. During the interview, we talked about how college impacted her high school teaching, and also why she went to teach at the high school level. She explained being a professor helped her with lecturing and storytelling. However, she included that high school teaching is more impactful than college teaching will ever be. As a student of hers, I believe she really knows how to lecture in an entertaining fashion. She broke the stereotype that there is a ladder from high school to college teaching. Dr. S saw it as a bridge, since the teaching area is more broad than people make it out to be. Being a college professor does not have to be prestigious; it is just teaching to a different student body. 

Outside of school experiences, Dr. S shared other factors to her teaching style. She kept this answer short and sweet, but it explained a large impact. She used the three words: Family, Faith, and Time. These three words mean a lot to her as a teacher, since she has to balance roles between living, being a woman, and a mom. All of these factors influence her teaching style and how she portrays herself. These are a big reason she has so much triumph in her teaching career.

Winning this award for her meant so much more than calling it “Dr. S’s award.” She saw it as an award for students, staff, and our community. The award brought attention to our school and what we stand for at WCHS. This attention painted our school with a better meaning and outlook. During this interview question with Dr. S, she barely talked about what it means to her alone, but rather how it meant so much to the school as a whole. The last question I asked was, “Does winning the Kentucky High school Teacher Award, give you any new responsibilities?” This was the biggest answer I received throughout the entire interview. She explained her new involvement with speaking engagements, such as being a guest speaker at the Kentucky ED Rising Conference. She said she also feels more responsibility to help other teachers since she feels she’s obligated to do so. Not only that, but she intends to write articles about her success and what went into her progression as a teacher. She ends off the question with an impactful statement, saying, “There should be a different narrative on the shining light on teachers.” Teachers may be in charge, and have power over a classroom, and students look to them like a shining light. However, Dr. S said that a candle can’t stay lit at all times.

Dr. S makes it clear that this is a win for WCHS, as the award brings good attention to our school. Congratulations to Dr. S for winning Kentucky High School Teacher of the Year.