2006Teacher

Douglas W. Hoover

Mr. Douglas “Doug” Hoover, was nominated for the Educator of the Year award by one of his peers, Mr. A. J. Hoenstine, who writes, “I had the opportunity to work with Doug for three years. I learned a tremendous amount from him, and he was very helpful to me – being a rookie teacher. Mr. Hoover truly cares about his students and is always willing to go the extra mile to help them. He is, without a doubt, the best educator in our district, and I believe my colleagues would say the same thing about him.”

Mr. Hoover, a fifth-grade teacher at East Freedom Elementary School, has been with the district for nine years. Prior to his teaching career, he worked for 15 years with his father at the family farm machinery and supply business, D. W. “Doc” Hoover, Inc., in Martinsburg. Mr. Hoover also owns and operates a karate school, Hoover Martial Arts Center, in Martinsburg. As he notes, “It doesn’t make any money, but it keeps me in shape.”

When asked what made him decide to go back to school to become a teacher, Mr. Hoover states, “Through teaching karate lessons to younger children, I realized that I really enjoyed working with them, and I was successful in being able to teach and relate well with them. I decided that I wanted to work with children as a full-time career.” Mr. Hoover went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from Saint Francis University with a degree in Elementary Education and a 4.0 Grade Point Average.

Although flattered that he was nominated for this award, Mr. Hoover attributes any success he has experienced as a teacher to having the opportunity to work in a small school with a group of colleagues, staff, and administration who are genuinely concerned about the students lives as well as education. He states that, “My personal desire is for the students I work with to learn more than just facts and figures from the lessons I teach. I hope that I can help them develop the confidence and desire necessary to become independent learners and explorers of the unknown.” Mr. Hoover’s love of teaching is evident through his daily interactions with students, parents, and his colleagues. He notes that, “… it is really nice knowing that what you are doing is having a positive impact on children’s lives and helping to shape the future. On a more personal level, it is hard to beat the satisfaction that comes from seeing the look on a child’s face when they finally grasp a concept that is being taught to them and knowing that you helped bring that success about.”

Mr. Hoover resides in Martinsburg with his wife, the former Denise Dodson. He has two children, Alison, a freshman at Saint Francis University, and Brock, a junior at Northern Bedford County High School, and a stepson, Douglas Shade, who attends Kindergarten at Roaring Spring Elementary School. Mr. Hoover is the son of David W. “Doc” Hoover, of Martinsburg, and the late S. Margaret Hoover. He is the stepson of Ruth Hoover of Martinsburg.

M. Tabatha Griffin

Mrs. Tabatha Griffin was nominated for the Educator of the Year Award by one of her AP English students, Sarah Smith, who writes, “Mrs. Griffin has shown herself to be a truly outstanding teacher in every respect. She has taken more time and has shown more caring to make sure that her students excel than any other teacher I have ever had or heard of. Her time does not stop at the conclusion of the class period. She never hesitates to stay after school to help us understand a literary concept we can’t quite grasp or to help us edit our papers. She has written multiple college recommendations for many of us, including five alone for me. She attended a recent statewide conference on education to gain more understanding of how to teach and reach students with learning disabilities. She finds time for her students if they need to talk, and she is well liked by other teachers. Mrs. Griffin has really given me a new appreciation of English, literature, and poetry. I have heard many students comment about how much they have learned from Mrs. Griffin and how much they enjoy her class.”

Mrs. Griffin, a secondary English and Communications teacher at Central High School, has been with the district for approximately three years. Mrs. Griffin teaches English and Communications, including Advanced Placement English, to 9^th, 11^th, and 12^th grade students at Central High School. In addition, she teaches English for the Alternative Education Cove at Night program. She also teaches an additional 120 – 150 students per year through a PSSA Reading and Writing Remediation Program, using a curriculum that she designed herself. This program has been a resounding success, and to date the high school has met or exceeded their Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) goals from the state in these two areas. Mrs. Griffin notes, “…. in addition to the obvious benefits we have seen as a result of this program, it has given me the opportunity to get to know a large segment of the junior and senior classes that I might otherwise have missed.” In addition to direct instruction, the remediation program conducts full-class reviews for juniors before the Reading and Writing examinations and provides self-study materials in the form of locker-stuffer reviews, poster materials throughout the school, and announced mini-messages immediately prior to the exam. Mrs. Griffin uses unique approaches to learning, as evidenced by the recent Junior Jumpstart PSSA Remediation campaign during which she and students placed completed, writing organizers for the various PSSA essays at eye level in bathroom stalls, at drinking fountains, at towel dispensers, and in locker rooms. Says Mrs. Griffin, “Students literally could not escape it if they tried.”

When asked about her educational philosophy, Mrs. Griffin cited a quote by B. F. Skinner -- "Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." She notes that she tries to set-up situations where students can explore ideas and processes as opposed to memorizing facts. It is her belief that long after students have forgotten the character names they "learned" from a short story, they will still, hopefully, be "educated" as to how to analyze a story, share their ideas, and come to a consensus in a group of their peers. “In the end, if students can take the tools and templates for how to read, think, and live, then I've done my job and then some. I take seriously the reality that every day parents entrust their children to me. As an educator who also happens to be a mother, I know what a sacred trust that is, and I would never ever want to violate it.”

A resident of Duncansville, Mrs. Griffin lives with her two daughters, Julia, age 10, and Sophia, age 8, who have both inherited their mother’s love for reading. Julia can usually be found reading a book from the Royal Diaries series, and Sophia is a big fan of Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist. Although she was born locally at Nason Hospital and raised in this area, Mrs. Griffin has a very diverse background, including a stint as a sales professional prior to becoming a teacher, and has had the opportunity to live in Virginia, Arizona, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ethiopia. Mrs. Griffin is the daughter of Michele Fleming of Duncansville, and the late Ralph Reed.

A graduate of Dickinson College with a B.A. in Psychology, Mrs. Griffin also holds a Masters in English from George Mason University and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Penn State. A firm believer in life-long learning, Mrs. Griffin’s future educational goal is to obtain a Ph.D. in Literacy Studies.

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