LOYALSOCK TOWNSHIP –Jennifer Wahl spends a lot of time in front of a classroom filled with students at Loyalsock Township High School. This past weekend the teacher found herself in front of a much bigger crowd.
"They actually brought us into a room with twelve hundred people," said Jennifer Wahl.
After being nominated by the school’s principal, Wahl was chosen as a top 12 finalist for Pennsylvania’s "teacher of the year". This past weekend Wahl, some students, and colleagues headed to Hershey where out of thousands of applicants Wahl was chosen as “teacher of the year”.
"Shocking. Shocking," said Wahl.
"I just got up. I was clapping and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, she won! Oh my gosh, she won!” said Tawseefah Fields.
Senior, Tawseefah Fields was there for the award ceremony and introduced her teacher to the crowd.
"Maybe it's because I do know her. I don't know. I just knew she had something special about her that took her above the rest," said Fields.
"You never expect someone to say those nice things about you. We teach and we do things like this because it's our job. it's not just about the academic material. It's also about the human interaction and human aspect of teaching," said Wahl.
Wahl's back in class now, but her colleagues thought the statewide recognition for her and the school, deserved a round of applause. They held a rally just for her.
"She represents one of many, so I feel really strongly about that for everybody,” said Matthew Reitz.
"We are only as good as the people who are willing to help us out, so I really feel like I have this great group of colleagues who are constantly willing to help each other grow. I’m really proud to be a part of that," said Wahl.
As "teacher of the year," Wahl will travel around the country meeting other educators. It’s an adventure she's looking forward to in the new year.