Teachers of the Year: Sandy Hyland and Maryellen DiSilvio

What Sandy Hyland loves about teaching is watching students succeed, she says.

“This could be anything from the struggling reader who unlocks the mystery of decoding words, or the math student who memorizes his multiplication facts after years of trying," Hyland said. "This could also be a student with a history of avoiding books, who suddenly starts to read for pleasure because she discovered an author or a genre she likes.”

For Hyland and colleague Maryellen DiSilvio, that success is even more meaningful in their special education classrooms at Vienna Elementary School, where students have different learning needs and challenges than many of their classmates.  The two teachers work with the support of school administrators Jeanette Black and John Carmichael to  provide a high level of learning for all the students. For that, they were nominated by readers as two of Vienna Patch's teachers of the year. 

“We have the ability to inspire children to be the best that they can be. Our words and actions are powerful,” Hyland said. “If kids know that someone believes in them, they will often rise to the occasion and push themselves harder than they ever thought imaginable. We also have the ability to destroy a child’s self-esteem by our actions, our tone, and our words. I remember those teachers who believed in me, as my college professor did. I also remember those teachers who made negative comments to me that will stay with me forever.”

Chandra Townsend’s children have gone through classes with the DiSilvio and Hyland, and believe they have been great influences on the kids.

“They are outstanding teachers as they are caring and firm with the children, getting the most out of them each day, focusing on the children’s strengths and developing an alternative learning environment where they can accomplish the goals which are set for them each year while learning the curriculum set for each grade level,” Townsend said.

Townsend said both have also made an effort to add the latest teaching tools to their arsenal.

“My biggest challenge is keeping up with the ever-changing world of technology,” Hyland said. “Stressing the importance of developing my students’ technological skills is a goal I have set for myself. It is essential that I help prepare them to meet the 21st century with confidence.”

Hyland began teaching in 1978 and has been a special education teacher at the school for 18 years. DiSilvio graduated from the University of Virginia in 1982 and has been teaching for more than 20 years.

“I decided to become a special education teacher when I was a freshman in college,” Hyland said. “I took the class ‘Educating Exceptional Children’ and had a professor who saw something in me that I had not yet discovered in myself. She pulled me aside one day after class and stated to me that she believed I had a ‘calling’ to be a special education teacher.”

Townsend said the teachers are “excellent communicators" with the children and parents. Townsend said both are very holistic in their approach to teaching and truly care about their students.

" I never question what is going on in school," she said.