Hayesville Middle School teacher Ginger Scerri enjoyed a show while in Australia as a representative of Go Global NC. She was chosen as Clay County Teacher of the Year to present the school district regionally. Scerri was also chosen as Clay County Teacher of the Year in 2019.
By Lorrie Ross
Staff Writer
Not many educators are chosen by their peers to represent their schools regionally. Even fewer are selected two times. Ginger Scerri was recently chosen by the staff of Clay County Schools as Clay County Teacher of the Year. In 2019, she was also chosen to be Clay County Teacher of the Year and represent the schools regionally.
Several weeks ago, the Clay County Progress highlighted each of the six staff chosen by their peers. Along with Scerri, they were Teresa Ashe, Silas Brown, Bonnie Kelly, Sharon Perry and Courtenay Sumpter. A few weeks later, Ginger Scerri’s coworkers selected her to represent them regionally; however, she was busy traveling to Australia for Go Global NC — another great honor. Yet that is a story for next week. Last week we chatted with Scerri again as she prepares to compete for the regional title of Teacher of the Year in October.
“It is a true honor to have been chosen by my peers to be the Teacher of the Year for Hayesville Middle School and selected from the panel interview board post the school Teacher of the Year interviews at the end of the year to become the Teacher of the Year for Clay County,” Scerri said. “I truly feel as though every single teacher deserves this each year for all the hard work they do daily. I appreciate each and every teacher in our district and I notice everything they put into our school and students. I feel blessed to stand with each of our teachers and am honored to represent Clay County Schools at the regional level and to have been provided this opportunity by my peers.”
First, she must complete and submit a 30 page teacher portfolio by Friday, Sept. 9. “It is a combination of a resume, teacher reflections, essays and recommendations,” she explained. “I will be provided an interview date for an in person panel interview in mid-October at the Asheville Regional Education Facilitators North Carolina Department of Public Instruction location. If I do well and land in the top two finalists for this level, they will then come observe me in my classroom, interview staff members, my direct admins and parents of students I have had.”
Scerri continued. “I will prepare by organizing my thoughts around the following: my specific teaching practices and philosophies, where I see myself growing within this profession, being thoughtful about what I would like to change and grow should I be given the opportunity with the voice of Western Regional Teacher of the Year. I will plan a few questions I have myself about what this title could do for my school and district.”
Clay County School Superintendent Dale Cole believes the award for Scerri is well-deserved. “Mrs. Scerri is a born teacher,” he said. “Her passion for helping students shines through her work. She creates wonderfully positive relationships with students and they, in turn, work very hard to please her. She has much passion for social studies as a trained archaeologist, and her students benefit from her experiences on digs throughout the world prior to her becoming a teacher.”
Cole added, “Ginger also has a desire to impact classrooms beyond her own, so she provides enrichment opportunities after school to all students that focus on global learning. She serves as the chair of the HMS School Improvement Team as well. In my opinion she is the epitome of what we want out of a public school teacher.
The Hayesville Middle School teacher began her teaching career seven and half years ago at Clay County Schools. Teaching was not something she wanted to do as a child, even though her mother was a teacher for 30 years.
Scerri studied ancient history in college before pursuing archeology. She also worked a corporate job before she returned to Clay County, where she became a teaching assistant. With teaching, she found her niche because she truly loves the students, as well as sharing her enjoyment for learning with them.
Family time is also important to Scerri. She and her husband, Chris Scerri, have two daughters. Her parents are Mark and Rhonda Buchanan, who also live in Clay County, as does her older sister, Shandalee Woody and her family.
Scerri ended, “If I am honored enough to go on to the state level, I will prepare very similarly to my above preparations with the expectation of being more intentional with bringing issues and programs that need more growth for the state level to the forefront of my mind. The state interviews take place in March and are announced in May.”
Next week, Ginger Scerri will share some of the highlights of her July trip to Australia.