Recognizing her outstanding contributions and impact on children’s lives, Elizabeth Troxell, ’09, was named a finalist for the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s 2016 Teacher of the Year award. The award recognizes excellence by PreK-12 teachers in public education across the state.
“It is the greatest compliment,” Troxell said. “Teaching is one of the hardest jobs in the world but also one of the most rewarding.”
Previously a 10th grade modern world history teacher for more than a decade at Penns Valley Area School District in Centre County, Troxell is now an instructional coach for the district. She also previously worked as a seventh and eighth grade history and social studies teacher at Shamokin Area School District.
“Where I work at Penns Valley, it’s a small rural school, and being highlighted on this stage is amazing. I am proud to put Penns Valley and every single kid there on the map,” Troxell said.
The Teacher of the Year award is one of the most prestigious in the profession. According to the PDE, the 2023-24 school year saw a total of 123,190 teachers employed in the state. Being selected as a finalist places Troxell in a group of less than 0.01% of all Pennsylvania teachers.
Candidates were nominated by local school boards before being selected by a panel of judges from the PDE and the National State Teachers of the Year, Pennsylvania chapter, based on interviews, recorded lessons and other application materials that exhibit effective instructional strategies. The winner of the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year award will be announced during an awards ceremony in Hershey in December.
“I feel like I need to stay current in the field to keep advocating for teachers and growing the field, as well as challenging myself by going through this process,” Troxell said.
Troxell, who graduated from SRU in 2009 with a bachelor’s in secondary education for history and social studies after attending Pine-Richland High School, credited her strong foundation in teaching to her experiences in SRU’s College of Education.
“I loved my time at Slippery Rock, especially my educational classes,” she said. “I thought the education was phenomenal and I had the best professors.”
Troxell is currently pursuing her Doctor of Education in educational leadership and administration at SRU with a PK-12 principal certificate.
“I am a big proponent of lifelong learning and I feel like I should model that,” she said. “We really need good teachers right now and we have a teacher shortage. I work with a lot of student teachers and they are not prepared the way Slippery Rock prepared me and that is why I am attending Slippery Rock again.”
More information about education programs at SRU is available on the College of Education’s website.Learn more about how SRU is helping solve the teacher shortage on the University’s website.
More about the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year award is available on the PA Department of Education’s website.
