North Tazewell, Va., native Teresa Dove honored as National Online Teacher of the Year

NEW ORLEANS – Being named the first National Online Teacher of the Year left North Tazewell, Va., native Teresa Dove emotional, empowered and speechless.

“This entire process had been so honoring and so humbling. It was a very emotional evening. It’s one I won’t forget for the rest of my life,” Dove said Thursday by telephone from New Orleans. “For the first time I think in my life, I was completely speechless.”

Dove was given the honor during a dinner event Wednesday, as part of the annual joint meeting of the Southern Regional Education Board’s Educational Technology Cooperative and the Electronic Campus state representatives.

The education board is one of two nonprofit groups that created the award; the other is the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

“Teachers are the common denominator of instructional quality, whether in the classroom or online,” Myk Garn, director of the cooperative, said in a written announcement on the award. “As Web-based learning continues to expand, SREB and iNACOL are proud to honor Teresa Dove and the two other finalists as outstanding K-12 online teachers of America’s students.”

Dove received an art glass sculpture designed by Hans Frabel and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Virtual School Symposium hosted by the online learning association, Nov. 14-16 in Glendale, Ariz.

“For online teachers, it’s the biggest honor you could receive,” Dove said. “To be recognized as one of the leaders in a field that is evolving and changing every day is really empowering. It just takes your breath away.”

Dove was among three finalists for the inaugural award, which was created to recognize outstanding online teachers and their exceptional contributions, the education board said in the announcement. The judging committee selected Dove and the other finalists from more than 50 nominations in 24 states.

Steven Sproles, a Wise, Va., psychology and economics teacher who offers instruction online through Virtual Virginia was one of the other two finalists. The third was high school social studies teacher Gabrielle Bray from the Gwinnett County, Ga., Online Campus.

Dove said Southwest Virginia should be proud that it produced two of the top three chosen as finalists for the inaugural award.

“Here we are two of the top teachers in the United States [in online education] from Southwest Virginia,” Dove said. “It’s been an incredible honor. I’m glad we are able to represent our area well, and show that the state line doesn’t stop at Roanoke.”

From her home in North Tazewell, Dove teaches math to students in grades 6-12 in the Florida Virtual School. She also is a literacy coordinator with the school, which serves more than 125,000 students and employs more than 1,100 teachers.

“I try to not just teach,” she said. “I really get involved in a lot of things online. I do mentoring. I do literacy. I do curriculum development. I’m not just a teacher.”

She said that being an online teacher has always been her dream. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in instructional technology and distance education.

Up until four years ago, however, she was a classroom teacher in Wythe County, commuting a couple hours a day from her home in North Tazewell. Then, she learned of the opportunity to become an online instructor through Florida Virtual, and it came at a point in her life when she needed more flexibility, particularly being the mother of two young children.

“Florida Virtual allowed me to make that dream come true,” she said.Perhaps a more touching honor, however, has been the response from her students. First, there were the letters they wrote nominating her for the award.

“Sometimes when you’re a teacher, a kid can say thank you, but when they take the time to sit down and write a letter to tell you how much you’ve impacted their lives, that’s phenomenal,” she said.

Then, there was the phone call message she received at 3:13 p.m. Thursday, from a student she taught two years ago who’d learned that Dove was given the national honor.

“She wanted to let me know it was very well deserved,” Dove said, adding that the message brought tears to her eyes.

“It’s been a very emotionally week,” Dove said. “I’m generally not a crier, but they’ve had me crying so many times down here, it’s unreal.”

Dove arrived in New Orleans on Tuesday, and plans to return home this weekend. She said it’s been a busy week in New Orleans, with the awards dinner and the city flooded with football fans because of the reigning champion Saints’ season opener Thursday night.“They say the crowds are as big as they are for Mardi Gras,” she said.

But there’s no chance she’ll ever forget the dinner Wednesday night, she said.

“Here is a little North Tazewell native who has gone national with her teaching, and they want to learn my techniques.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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