By DEREK REDD

WHEELING — There was a point last year when Adrianne Manning sat at a crossroad in her teaching career. She didn’t know if she wanted to stay in the classroom — or to remain in education. She wondered if she was still making a difference.

Then, her students, both current and past, showed her that she was.

“I was getting a lot of little unexpected ‘wake up calls,'” she said. “I heard from students I hadn’t seen in years. I had students directly tell me of my impact on their lives — face-to-face. And then I had an opportunity to change.”

That change came when she moved from public school to become the principal at St. Michael Parish School. In her first year there, she found her calling overseeing the school at the church she had called home for so many years.

Manning and her family have been active in the St. Michael Parish School community for a long time. Now she steers the ship there. It’s a position that goes beyond managing staff and students.

“This year, I’ve done everything from fix toilets to assess the curriculum,” she said.

Manning spent 16 years at Wheeling Middle School before coming to St. Michael Parish School. During that time, she was named the 2017-18 Ohio County Schools Teacher of the Year and was named a finalist for West Virginia Teacher of the Year that same year.

The landscape of education in the Ohio Valley is strong for women in the field, she said.

“We have very strong public, private, and Catholic institutions here,” she said. “Each one offers a unique feel. Finding your home depends on the feel of the school and your call to the classroom. Everyone feels value in teaching a different group of kids — beyond grade level.”

A Wheeling native, Manning is happy to be able to stay in the place she has called home and make a difference in the lives of students and their families. It’s what she’d like those young women starting in the field to remember — the chance to make a difference.