SANDY, OR -- Oregon’s new Teacher of the Year is a middle school teacher from the Oregon Trail School District, southeast of Portland.
"I’ve never been more excited and grateful and humbled in my entire life," Mandy Vance said, shortly after she was surprised with the award at a school assembly on Thursday. "To walk down the hallways and just see them lined with students that I just adore, in a community where I have served in the last 15 years, it was truly one of the most special days of my life."
She sees teaching as a commitment to make a life-long investment in her students, "Yes, they may be in my classroom for a year or two years, three if I’m lucky, but I’m the one that they call for a job recommendation, I’m the one they call to take them out for coffee to talk about the life things that are going on in their life." But she knows she’s not the only one who sees education as a calling. "I think there are so many teachers out there who deserve this award. It’s a really hard recognition to receive when you know, and have personally been mentored by, amazing teachers."
Vance tells KBND News, "I’m a teacher who’s been called to do a lot of different roles in our district, and I know how to figure it out." After teaching at Boring Middle School for 15 years, Vance says she was asked to move this year to Cedar Ridge, in Sandy, because of a staffing shortage. "It takes people who are committed to doing what’s best for kids to be willing to do that. It was hard. It was, in a lot of ways, a really painful start to the school year because I left behind a community that I love. But in doing so, I’ve expanded my community and I’ve grown in ways this year that, honestly, make me an even better teacher."
She hopes the year ahead will bring her opportunities to speak on behalf of teachers and students, "What I’m really hoping is that I inspire the next generation to want to be teachers, because we need more teachers right now." As the 2023-24 Teacher of the Year, Vance receives a $10,000 cash award from the Oregon Lottery, and the Oregon Trail School District gets $5,000.
Photo courtesy of the Oregon Department of Education
