Next fall, Emily Tanzey will do what makes her famous.
She’ll be in front of a classroom, and roaming between the rows of desks making literature come alive for students.
The English teacher will also help those students tame their wild syntax into readable essays.
Tanzey has been on the English faculty at Suncrest Middle School for five years, where she’s grown attached to her students and colleagues.
She also teaches creative reading and oversees the school’s acclaimed “Read 180” program, which offers additional help to those students who struggle with the printed word.
However, there’s a chance next fall she may be starting over at a new school. Tanzey is one of three teachers placed on the Reduction in Force (RIF) and transfer list for the coming term.
That’s to make room for a certified science teacher at the school in Suncrest. The RIF always falls upon teachers and service employees with the least amount of seniority in a school.
At Suncrest Middle, that’s Tanzey. Being on the list means the right to appeal through a hearing, though, and that’s what Tanzey did Tuesday before Board of Education members.
Tanzey said she didn’t want to lose continuity with her kids — especially the ones she’s shepherded through Read 180.
“I’m not worried about me,” she said, “I’m worried about them.”
The board broke for a nearly 30-minute executive session to discuss the possible RIF, which it will vote on two weeks from now.
Two other teachers are on the RIF list this year, which is based on projected enrollment.
Board member Mike Kelly praised the teacher for her prowess, telling her she’d “make a difference” no matter where she went.
Kelly, with board members and others from Monongalia, motored to Robert C. Byrd High School in Clarksburg last week for a statewide session on Senate Bill 451, the contentious education reform bill that didn’t make it out of this year’s Legislative session.
Lawmakers will again take up the bill in special session next month.
Sam Brunett, a Morgantown High art teacher and Mon’s chapter president of the American Federation of Teachers union, said he was heartened by the RCB meeting.
“Well, it was a good gathering,” he said. “I just hope our lawmakers listened to what our teachers and parents were saying.”
