English Teacher Named NHS Teacher of the Year

Wednesday morning, English teacher Laura Beachy dragged herself into school. Feeling tired and achy from her pregnancy, she was worried she’d be a “lame teacher” that day.

“I was thinking, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a tough day,’” Beachy said. “[I] started first hour going and a few seconds in to class, I thought, ‘Okay, I’m doing it. This is going to be fine.’”

And that’s when they marched in. Principal John McKinney, senior English teacher and National Honor Society (NHS) sponsor Jeanette Bonjour and 20 NHS students, according to Beachy, all came into her first hour freshman class.

“It was out of the blue for sure,” Beachy said. “[I thought], ‘What in the world is happening?’ and I look to my freshmen and go, ‘Do you guys know what’s going on?’ and they shook their heads and were very confused, also.”

They had come in to tell Beachy that she had just won the SM East NHS Teacher of the Year award. Through a ballot, senior NHS students put in names of their favorite teachers, and Beachy’s had come out on top.

“She was really, genuinely surprised.” Bonjour said. “She got a little emotional, and I think she said it’s not hard to make her get emotional these days.”

Beachy quickly admitted that she found it hard to remain unemotional towards the surprise.

“I [couldn’t] even think of anything to say and I just got teary, which is my go to reaction these days for almost anything,” Beachy said. “I cry easily anyway, but being pregnant, I cry really easily.”

Beachy will now move on to the district level of NHS Teacher of the Year, which is decided by district NHS sponsors and their students.