News

Barnwell named county's teacher of the year

By Emily Stanley, Published: May 27, 2016

Teachers and administrators gathered Friday at the Hendersonville Country Club for a lunch that the school system's Human Resources director, John Bryant, promised would not include chocolate milk from a carton or chicken rings.

The guests of honor were the Teachers of the Year from each of Henderson County’s 23 public schools.
Schools Superintendent David Jones introduced keynote speaker Victoria Schandevel, the senior class president at Hendersonville High School and a product of successful teaching.

“Who really knows what a teacher does?” Jones said. “The best person’s a student.”

Schandevel is bound for UNC at Chapel Hill in the fall, a choice that makes HHS principal Bobby Wilkins proud. Wilkins calls Victoria is one of the most well-rounded kids he’s ever had at Hendersonville High School.
Schandevel recounted the intense impact her teachers have had throughout her life, telling of times her teachers had inspired her.

“Teachers are instruments of inspiration," she said. "They are producers of passion. They are laborers of love.
“Teaching is a selfless profession. It is giving time and energy and compassion to children and young adults that are not your own. It is taking on the task of preparing the next generation for all the obstacles they will have to undertake. It is informing us of the past so that we may improve the future.

"Being a teacher, you are not guaranteed riches," she said. "If anything, you are guaranteed not to receive riches. But you are guaranteed to opportunity to enrich, and to be enriched, and there is no monetary value that can be put on the betterment of one’s mind and one’s soul.”
Schandevel praised the people who take on the often thankless profession.

“In everything you do, you make a difference. You support, you challenge, you unlock. And sometimes you are the only person who can remind a child that she is worthy, that he is good, that they are human. You help set the foundation that a young person can build a life on. You catalyze a curious mind, a reaction that has power beyond momentary understanding, because the ending product may come years in the future.”
The principals, administrators and guests honored each teacher individually before announcing the countywide winner.

“You are your school today. You are our school system today,” Bryant told the nominees.
Bryant and Jones, along with longtime supporter Dot Marlow, presented the award to Elena Barnwell.

“I wholeheartedly believe that my students are my greatest accomplishments,” Barnwell had written. “I come to school each day knowing that I have been gifted with the opportunity to make a difference for every child, and every child is someone’s whole world.”
Through tears, Barnwell gratefully accepted the award. She will go on to be considered for the regional and state Teacher of the Year awards.

“Thank you so much for this," she said. "I am honored to represent such an amazing school system.” She was quick to thank her peers. “I always say it takes a village, and we are the village. It’s not just us in this room, it’s everybody back at school. And I thank you for everything you do for our kids, because that’s who we’re here for.”