Wetzel County Superintendent of Schools Dennis Albright presents Sandra Hinerman with the 2014 Teacher of the Year award at Monday evening’s board meeting. (Photo by Amy Witschey)

The Wetzel County Board of Education honored Sandra Hinerman as the 2014 Wetzel County Teacher of the Year Monday evening.

Hinerman, a math teacher at Magnolia High School, is in her 27th year of teaching.

“During her illustrious career in Wetzel County, Sandy Hinerman has not only touched the lives of numerous students by helping them attain rigorous content in creative ways, but has greatly impacted the professional lives of countless teachers with quality professional development,” said Superintendent Dennis Albright when presenting the award.

“I’m really here for the kids,” Hinerman said through tears as she accepted the award. “I think a lot of you know that.”

“You’ve touched a lot of lives at Magnolia High School and we truly, truly appreciate that,” said Board President Mike Blair.

“You made math fun,” added Board Member Joshua Balcerek, Hinerman’s former student who is now an engineer.

Hinerman is a state trainer and course developer for the new high school math courses being rolled out with Next Generation Standards. “She has served on many cadres and committees in our county and always contributes greatly to the mission of these groups and that of our county: Educating Individuals for Success,” noted Albright. She served on the state Math III TR Curriculum Writing Team and her unit was posted on Teach 21.

She was also a state presenter for the rollout of Math II and attended the West Virginia Teacher Leadership Institute for four years.

“I’ve had a lot of people help me,” said Hinerman. “I hope these young teachers know to let these veteran teachers help them. I have learned so much from the people I work with at Magnolia High School.”

“Hinerman’s considerable teaching ability was one of the primary reasons Wetzel County Schools decided to pursue a partnership with West Virginia University to offer College Honors Engineering 101 to our students at Magnolia High School,” said the superintendent. “We needed a high quality Calculus teacher for this to be a successful implementation, and she fit the bill perfectly. Our students completed the course with great acclaim from their university professors!

“Sandra Hinerman is a true gem in Wetzel County,” stated Albright.