Johnny Chard of West Florence Named Florence School District One’s Teacher of the Year

Johnny Chard, a secondary mathematics teacher at West Florence High School, was named Florence School District One’s 2009-2010 Teacher of the Year today.

The 12-year teaching veteran will represent Florence School District One in the South Carolina Teacher of the Year Program.   Local Florence businesses which support District One’s teacher of the year program will award Chard $500. 

Supporters include:  BB&T, Pinnacle Network Solutions, Segars Realty, Roche Carolina, Inc., American Trophy Company, FW Architects, Inc., Herbert Smiling, Horace Mann Insurance, Pee Dee Federal Credit Union, and Pepsi Cola of Florence. As district Teacher of the Year, Chard will also receive $1,000 from corporate sponsors established by the South Carolina Department of Education.

Chard said he believes that all students are created equal, equally important and equally valuable.  “They each have a unique combination of gifts, abilities and knowledge.  I can learn something from each of my students.  I don’t just teach math, I teach students,” he added.

Chard was named based on a selection committee’s review of his educational history and professional development activities; awards and recognitions; professional biography, including influencing factors, contributions and accomplishments; philosophy of teaching;  and a personal interview.

Chard said he believes the rewards of teaching fall into four categories.  1) The camaraderie of fellow teachers is uplifting and stabilizing. 2) There is a reward in the learning of a new concept of ideology. 3) Our students’ academic success brings honor to our profession and a sense of accomplishment for our labor. And finally,  4) the influential success we have with individual students, both the breaking down of walls from the past and the laying down of hope for the future is our greatest reward.  “We don’t just teach what we know, we teach who we are.”

Honor roll teachers in this year’s teacher of the year program include Jeannine Franco of South Florence; Patricia Hyman of Delmae; Carol Holliday Schweitz of Carver.  Honor roll teachers are those teachers whose applications packets, along with the teacher of the year, received the highest ratings.  Honor roll teachers also participated in the interview process. 

All Florence One schools will recognize their individual teacher of the year in a manner of their own choosing, and all teachers of the year will serve on the teacher forum, a newly established group which meets with the superintendent throughout the year and establishes special projects to serve teachers in Florence One. Later this school year, South Carolina Senator Hugh Leatherman will sponsor a trip to Columbia for teachers of the year where they will receive a tour of the South Carolina Capitol Building, visit the General Assembly, and participate in a luncheon.