2005 Chesapeake Teacher of the Year

Jerome Kendall Strickland

Mr. Strickland, an eighth-grade history teacher at Oscar Smith Middle School, received his bachelor's degree and social studies certification from Old Dominion University. For the first eight years of his career, he taught in Portsmouth. For the last three years in Chesapeake, he has taught U.S. History 8 while also serving as the co-volleyball coach. At Oscar Smith Middle, he has emblazoned the minds of his students with history using techniques such as Power Point, music, sounds, movies, and even actual props such as a "Zoot Suit" that he wore while giving a swing dance demonstration during a lesson on the Roaring 20s. Additionally, his teaching addresses multiple learning styles including kinesthetic, visual, and auditory. To help his students better understand concepts, he often puts them in the role of teacher, creating their own Power Point presentations, complete with audio and video clips, to lead the class in discussion.

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2004 - 2005 Elementary Teacher of the Year

Phyllis Owens Clarkson

Mrs. Clarkson, a fifth-grade teacher at Southwestern Elementary School, received her bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina at Spartansburg and her master's from the University of Virginia. At Southwestern, Mrs. Clarkson has participated in the Field Day Committee and the School Improvement Team. She has chaired the African-American and the Accelerated Reader Committees. She has been a writer for mathematics checkpoint tests and science benchmark tests. Additionally she has served as an after-school remediation teacher and a beginning teacher mentor. With her father, she as co-authored a book, Light Bulb Moments in Arithmetic, to help students and their parents understand basic concepts in mathematics.

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2004 - 2005 Secondary Teacher of the Year

Holly Morgan

Mrs. Morgan, Guidance Director at Great Bridge HIgh School, earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Humanities at Florida State University. She completed her Master of Science in Guidance and Counseling at Radford University. Her entire 20-year career has been spent serving the children of the Great Bridge community. Mrs. Morgan taught English and Humanities at Great Bridge High School from 1976-1986. In 1987, she entered the field of guidance; taking a counselor position at Great Bridge Junior High School. Mrs. Morgan transferred to a guidance position at Great Bridge High School a year later; and then in 1991 became a guidance counselor.

Mrs. Morgan's professional and community activities are numerous. She states, "I attempt to serve as a model in the community in dealing with and helping students and their families, hoping this attitude encourages other people to apply the same principles in their own lives."

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