Berry, Bluff Park teachers chosen as Hoover's 2022-23 Teachers of Year
Hoover school officials today announced Bluff Park Elementary first grade teacher Maghan Craig as the district’s 2022-23 Elementary Teacher of the Year and Berry Middle School sixth grade science teacher Kevin Pughsley as the Secondary Teacher of the Year.
Superintendent Dee Fowler and several central office staff members surprised Craig and Pughsley with the news at their schools Wednesday afternoon.
ELEMENTARY TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Craig, 42, is in her sixth year of teaching at Bluff Park Elementary and 19th year of teaching overall. She previously taught second grade for 13 years at Chelsea Park Elementary School in the Shelby County school system.
At Bluff Park, she has been the lead teacher for her grade level for six years and served as a mentor to new teachers the past three years. She also has been responsible for creating and coordinating science and social studies schoolwide presentations such as a living wax museum and market day where children created a product and then tried to “sell” it to help understand supply and demand concepts.
“Maghan Craig is what I like to call a quiet leader,” Bluff Park Elementary Principal Ami Weems said. “She’s one of those that even though she’s quiet, every time she speaks, someone listens. She’s also one of those that she does all things for the right reasons. She is never seeking the limelight, but she is definitely someone that deserves to be in it, and we’re incredibly proud of her.”
Craig does a great job of not only getting to know her students but also their parents, and she is well respected in the community, Weems said.
“She is definitely a teacher that never, ever stops learning,” Weems said. “She’s been in education for 19 years, and she is always seeking out an opportunity to grow.”
Craig said she is honored and shocked to be named Elementary Teacher of the Year. “I really wasn’t expecting it,” she said.
She got into teaching because she loved how some of the teachers in her formative years found ways to make learning fun. When she finished high school, she helped teach a Sunday school class at her church, and she enjoyed finding fun and creative ways to teach the lessons, she said.
Those things motivated her to pursue education as a career, and it became a passion for her, she said.
“I try to find ways to bring studying to life and have really hands-on, realistic learning experiences for the students,” she said.
While teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic was challenging, it also led her and other teachers to use technology in new ways that they continue to incorporate into their lesson plans, Craig said.
Also, while some teachers have gotten burned out in recent years, Craig said continuing to find new, fun ways to teach keeps her motivated. Also, getting a new group of students each year keeps it fresh and exciting because each group of students has different needs and challenges, she said. “It looks different every single year.”
She loves teaching first grade because most first graders love coming to school and love their teacher, she said. “It’s still all new at this age.”
SECONDARY TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Pughsley is in his sixth year at Berry Middle and 16th year of teaching overall. He previously taught 10 years as a sixth grade science teacher at Calera Middle School in the Shelby County school system.
He was named Calera Middle School’s Teacher of the Year in 2008 and 2014, the Shelby County Middle School Teacher of the Year in 2014 and was his school district’s nominee for the Jacksonville State University Teacher Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Alabama Science Teacher Association Middle School Teacher of the Year for 2018.
Pughsley won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching in 2018 and was a teacher ambassador for the Alabama Educator Space Camp in 2017. In 2022, he led Berry students to a state championship in Tests in Engineering Aptitude Mathematics and Science, qualifying them to go to nationals in Dallas.
He is the head of the science department at his school, plans professional development for his fellow science teachers and mentors and teaches other teachers through the A Plus College Ready program.
Melissa Hadder, the principal at Berry, when asked how she would describe Pughsley, said it’s hard to narrow it down to one thing because he is the complete package as a teacher.
“Mr. Pughsley is an experienced teacher who works hard to help the students master the content,” Hadder said. “He is a phenomenal teacher and represents Berry very well.”
Hughsley is very skilled in terms of pedagogy, grounded in the content and good at incorporating literacy into the science curriculum, she said. He’s good at relating to middle school students, engaging with them and getting them to ask questions about the content, she said.
Pughsley said he feels blessed and humbled that the teachers at his school chose him to be their Teacher of the Year and that the leaders of the school district see him as a teacher who is making a difference in students’ lives.
“Growing up, I was easily distracted,” he said. “I would get in trouble. Academically, I wasn’t the best either, and I share that with my students. I let them know my pathway that got to here.”When he got in high school, he had two teachers that showed him that education could be fun, energetic, exciting and engaging for students and that teaching can be tailored to meet the individual needs of learners, he said.
Those teachers made in impact on his life and helped him choose education as a profession, he said.
Now, he wants to help his students realize that, regardless of any past struggles, they can be successful in school and achieve their dreams, he said.
The last two years of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic have been very tough for teachers, and he wants to help his fellow teachers realize that they can push through the tough times and find that passion that they originally had, he said.