Congratulations, Mrs. Jennifer Hertweck, our 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year! Very deserving. Mrs. Hertweck has spent her entire 10-year education career at WES, including half of her student teaching experience before being hired. For the last 9.5 years, she has taught English Language Arts (ELA) and Social Studies. During her first year, she also taught Math and Science for half a year. A key aspect of her educational philosophy is the importance of teaching the whole child. While she prioritizes academic learning, she also emphasizes the need for social and emotional learning. Skills in reading, math, social studies, and science are essential, but it is crucial for scholars to learn coping skills, emotional regulation, character traits, and conflict resolution. Children represent 50% of the population, but they are 100% of the future. Therefore, it is vital to instill the good qualities in our scholars that we hope to see in the world: kindness, compassion, empathy, gratitude, responsibility, accountability, self-confidence, and dignity. We must equip them with all the tools they need to succeed. Another important part of her philosophy is that learning should be fun and exciting, filled with wonder and discovery. Whether through reading an engaging story or producing a piece of creative writing, she aims for her scholars to love learning rather than dread it. Her goal is to inspire them to become lifelong learners and to make every day an adventure in education. Mrs. Hertweck shares, “I feel very honored to be Teacher of the Year. I am so blessed to be a part of the WES family. This is especially meaningful for me as it marks my tenth anniversary in education and at Whiteville Elementary School. Whiteville Elementary is my home, and everyone here is my family. I work with amazing colleagues and wonderful students every day.”