Hoover’s Secondary Teacher of the Year found her true calling

Not everybody is cut out to be a teacher, but for many teachers, it’s a calling that’s hard to deny.

Hoover’s Secondary Teacher of the Year started her career in the business arena, but the calling to be a teacher burned in her soul.

Pam McClendon, the lead teacher for the Cyber Innovation Academy at the Riverchase Career Connection Center (RC3), was selected as Hoover City Schools’ 2020-21 Secondary Teacher of the Year.

McClendon spent time as a U.S. Marine and about 10 years putting her business degree to work before realizing she needed to be in education. “Teaching was just my love,” she said.

She went back to school and got a master’s degree in education in 2002 and is now in her 19th year as a teacher. She spent four years at Bottenfield Middle School (now Minor Middle School), seven years at Hueytown High School, seven years at Oak Grove High School and one year at Minor High School before being recruited to the Cyber Innovation Academy at RC3 when it started in the fall of 2019.

When the lead teacher of the academy had to leave, McClendon stepped into that role in January 2020 and now teaches introduction to computer science, Advanced Placement computer science and a Java computer programming course.

Debra Smith, her principal, said McClendon certainly has the skills needed to be a good teacher, but what makes her unique is the heart and passion she has for teaching and her students.

“McClendon is able to connect with students and get them excited about being at school and learning,” Smith said. “Even in such a difficult year, personally and professionally, McClendon has been able to come to school every day, be prepared, connect with the students and give all she has to them.”

“One of her greatest qualities is her tenacity,” Smith wrote in a nomination letter. “She is a trailblazer, overcoming personal obstacles and challenges while setting an amazing example of what can be accomplished in a field where she is considered a double minority. In spite of the multiple “no’s” she has been given, she has continued to excel and is a leader among her peers in her field. Her passion is palpable, and I enjoy watching her interact with, and instruct, her students. While I often do not understand the conversation, it is easy to see her connection with her students as they excitedly demonstrate what they learned.”

McClendon established the computer science programs at Oak Grove and Minor high schools and helped develop Jefferson County’s career prep curriculum. She is on Gov. Kay Ivey’s Computer Science Advisory Council and is a trainer for the A+ College Ready Advanced Placement computer science program.

She was named the 2020 Computer Science Teacher of the Year by the National Center for Women & Information Technology and was a 2015 finalist for Jefferson County Teacher of the year.

McClendon said she was inspired to teach by her 10th and 11th grade English teacher, who saw abilities in her that no one else saw, encouraged her and changed the way she saw herself.

Now, she loves working with students and helping them see their worth, power, strength and abilities, she said.

“We may have something different to offer, but we all have something to offer,” McClendon said. “Every student can be successful. It may take a different path. Some go to college. Some go straight into the workforce.”

But she wants all of them to know they can be successful, she said.

McClendon lives in McCalla with her husband, Isiah. They have two sons: Darius, an environmental scientist in Dayton, Ohio, and Matthew, a junior at Shelton State Community College.

McClendon said she was very humbled to be named Hoover’s Secondary Teacher of the Year. There are so many great teachers in Hoover schools, including at RC3, she said.

“You never think that you’re worthy of something so elite,” McClendon said. “I don’t see myself as being a great teacher. I just see myself as being someone who really cares about kids.”