Wendy Turner Delaware Teacher of the Year

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_lp20305Wendy Turner, a second-grade teacher at Mount Pleasant Elementary School in the Brandywine School District, is Delaware’s 2017 State Teacher of the Year.

Gov.  Jack Markell made the announcement before 500 guests at the Dover Downs Hotel and Conference Center in Dover.

Teaching was not Turner’s original plan.

After starting her career working in a large public accounting firm, she said she found herself unfulfilled; she said in her application: “I just did not want to work in corporate America anymore … being a parent greatly changed my perspective and was a significant factor in influencing my deep desire to do something meaningful.”

She went back to school, taking night classes to earn her master’s degree in elementary education while continuing to work full-time. At age 40, she became a teacher.

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As an educator she strives to make learning relevant to life outside the classroom, teaching every lesson through a real-world lens.

“In each subject area, if I present opportunities for students to connect the work they do in class to the real world, students overflow with enthusiasm,” she said. “Writing about current issues that reflect students’ personal beliefs has meaning and passion. Learning the science of how plans grow is more compelling when students cultivate plants in an outdoor garden.”

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