Jaime Young

WHEELING — Exuberant Woodsdale Elementary first grade teacher Jaime Young said it’s really hard to keep a good secret — especially from your students and co-workers.

Young was named Ohio County Teacher of the Year in April, and just before the end of the school year she learned she was selected as one of five finalists for West Virginia Teacher of the Year.

Young was called to the State Department of Education office in Charleston for an interview, but she was told not to tell anyone.

It wasn’t until Tuesday that the list of finalists was made public and she could finally let out excited emotion. The winner of the State Teacher of the Year title will be announced Sept. 12 during a ceremony at the Clay Center in Charleston.

“I wasn’t allowed to say anything,” Young said. “It was hard to keep a secret, and it was such a positive secret.

“I told my husband and my parents, and that was all.”

Young is married to Ryan Young, a history teacher at Wheeling Park High School who also coaches the Patriots girls basketball team. The couple has two children, Leah and Maggie, who are both students at Triadelphia Middle School.

Young is a 2002 graduate of Wheeling Park High School, and achieved both a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in reading from West Liberty University.

She is entering her 15th year as a teacher at Woodsdale Elementary School, and she indicated this past school year might have been her favorite.

“It was the best year,” Young said. “We had a newly renovated school, and I loved the children I had.”

After she was named county teacher of the year, Young’s students assisted her with compiling her application to be a state teacher of the year finalist.

She involved them in a cooking lesson in which she taught them to make soup, and the activity was recorded on video and was part of her submission.

Math, reading and writing education were all part of the lesson.

“I will message them to let them know I am a finalist and they were a part of it,” Young said. “They were so excited to help.”

Young said during her interview she was asked questions pertaining to her educational philosophy. She recounted advice given her by another educator when she first started teaching: “to love the students first, build the classroom family and then the learning will always follow.”

“I have to be someone they trust and respect,” she explained. “After that, the learning falls into place.

Young is an advisor to her school’s Student Council Program which organizes and completes service projects for the school and community. She said her involvement with student council permits her to remain in contact with her former students as they move through the elementary school.

Young also serves on the school-wide Positive Behavior Support Team and as the reading tutor program facilitator. It is her hope that her positive classroom energy will inspire her students to become educators as well.

“This is a great place to work, and we have great teachers,” she said of Woodsdale Elementary. “The atmosphere is great. I really enjoy it, and I get excited every day. I don’t think many people can say that about their jobs.

“Even if it stops right here, it’s an honor to be a finalist. After reading about the other candidates, it seems that they also are very passionate and very qualified,” Young added.