Jane Boling, a teacher of students with intellectual disabilities at Seymour Primary School in Sevier County, is the 2012 Sevier County Special Education Teacher of the Year.
The award is presented each year by the Sevier County Civitan Club to an outstanding special needs teacher and provides recognition of the work done to help students reach high levels of achievement. The runners-up are Meryl Stiles, a teacher at Pigeon Forge High School, and Kathleen Miklusicak, at Boyds Creek Elementary School.
Boling earned a Master of Education from East Tennessee State University. She has been a teacher at Seymour Primary School for seven years and is a member of the Tennessee Education Association.
Boling describes her teaching activities as rewarding.
Being a teacher is a very rewarding career, especially when you see the smile on their face when they have made an accomplishment, no matter how big or small. A smile on a child’s face is worth a thousand words, and what a good feeling it brings to a teacher. Teaching is not only rewarding but it involves hard work and dedication from yourself and to your students, along with a lot of patience, love, faith, and understanding for each child.”
Members of the Sevier County Civitan Club nominate individuals for the award. The Teacher of the Year will receive a combination of awards, which include gift cards, a gift basket with items donated from area businesses.
Sevier County Civitan is the local chapter of Civitan International, an organization of volunteer service clubs around the world, dedicated to helping people with special needs in their own communities. The Sevier County Club meets the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month at the King Family Library at 5 pm. Civitans help wherever the need arises – from collecting food for a homeless shelter, to volunteering at their local retirement home, to building a playground for children with disabilities. Civitans have been helping people with special needs since the organization’s founding in 1917, by a group of businessmen determined to making a difference in their community.
If you would like to learn more about our group, please contact Billy Worsham, Sevier County Civitan President at 865-382-1523 or billyworsham267@yahoo.com.
