Teacher of the Year is a very honorable title amongst those involved in the Duneland School Corporation. Not only does it come with bragging rights, but it also awards its recipient with a plaque on display at the central office, a five hundred dollar award from this year’s sponsors, and an application to the Indiana Department of Education’s statewide Teacher of the Year Program. To truly understand the mindset of the Teacher of the Year, we interviewed Mrs. Micchia, this year’s Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Mrs. Micchia graduated from Purdue University of West Lafayette in 2008. She soon began her teaching career as a substitute teacher at Earhart Elementary for a year then transferred to Tri-County Jr/Sr High School where she eventually moved to Chesterton High School. Mrs. Micchia was originally a Chesterton High School graduate of 2004 so Chesterton wasn’t a new environment to her.

 “When I went to school here, I thought I would be an architect,” explained Micchia. “And then senior year, I realized that I didn’t really want to be an architect and so I kind of thought, ‘Okay, what else do I want to do?’ and I liked kids so I decided to be a teacher”

Mrs. Micchia doesn’t stick to the standard method of teaching where knowledge is just given to the student and the student is left to absorb whatever they could scribble down in their notes. 

“I try my best to do things that will make sense or get kids interested in whatever is related to their life,” said Micchia. She tries to plan lessons that will get students out of their desks and brings them to express their creativity.

To become Teacher of the Year, Mrs. Micchia believes that teachers who exceed expectations must possess certain qualities.

 “Knowing that somebody cared about you and that somebody wanted you to be successful and somebody was cheering you on and celebrating you is an important part.” To further elaborate, great teachers must recognize their students’ efforts to encourage them to achieve their goals.

To end the interview with Mrs. Micchia, she left with some advice for aspiring educators who wish to positively impact their future students. 

“I always say it won’t matter a lot about what you do the first year, it’ll be rough. You’ll do things, it’ll fail, it’s hard to be a first-year teacher,” but according to Micchia, there are ways to make the first year and the following years easier. 

“But the way to not have problems in your classroom and the way to have kids that are excited to come back to your class or have something good to say about you is to get to know your students, that is the number one thing.” Being able to build a community in the classroom is one of her most recommended skills a teacher should hone and perfect throughout their teaching career.