Olivia Atchley is a statewide finalist for CTE Teacher of the Year
BY KARISSA MILLER
Time spent Olivia Atchley’s technological system’s classroom at West Iredell Middle School is rarely boring.
Atchley was recently named a statewide finalist for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) CTE Teacher of the Year Award, for getting kids interested in STEM while being an outstanding educator and leader at her school.
“I am very honored and grateful to be considered a NCCAT Finalist. I am grateful to the mentors, administrators and colleagues that have supported me in my education journey,” Atchley said. “I also recognize that I still have much room to grow in my career, and I believe there are many other teachers in North Carolina who are equally deserving of this honor.”
Her goal each day is to be a guide for student-directed learning and she seeks to empower students to take ownership of their own education.
“My classroom is a safe place to take risks, make mistakes, and then learn from their mistakes to become successful,” she explained.
Atchley’s classroom is an interactive space, where students program codes using their iPads to make their robots perform different functions, including movement, lighting up, reading words aloud and making spooky sounds.
As the lesson unfolds, Atchley shows each mini-activity on two screens. One screen, which Atchley projects from her desktop computer, contains the activity directions. On another screen, she shows students how she actually codes or programs lines for the robot.
“Not everyone learns the same way. I like to have the other screen so I can help my visual learners see it as we do it,” she explained.
It is obvious that she is loved by her students, and they are excited to be in her Career Technical Education class.
“Mrs. Atchley is nice and she motivates us and we get to try new things,” said eighth-grader Hayley Grimm.
“She makes learning fun. She teaches us topics that I like to learn about,” added Isaac Roldan.
With a timer running in the background, Atchley moves quickly between the desks to help students and see if they programmed their robot correctly. Then she moves back to the front of the class asking for a thumbs up or thumbs down to see if their robot moved quickly or slowly.
Towards the end of the lesson, students learn that they will have to create their own story next week.
“Your story will have a beginning and an end. You will have to be creative with your movements to make it look like something is happening in your story and tie in the sights and sounds,” Atchley explained.
She pairs students strategically so that students of different levels can work together.
“I have some student pairs that take off and do great. Sometimes I will see a pair that’s not working out and I will likely change them up next class,” she said.
On the back wall of her classroom are recognitions for various grants that Atchley has secured for her school and classroom. On another wall, a poster reminds students of the 4 Cs: Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity.
“Students need these four skills for the workforce. Creativity is a big one in STEM and STEM fields,” Atchley said.
She has been teaching at West Middle for 25 years and began her career as a Career and Technical Education teacher in Business Education. In 2015, she transitioned to teaching Technology Education and Engineering.
In addition to teaching all grades, Atchley is also a mentor for beginning teachers, member of the School Improvement Team and the Robot coach for the Robotics Competition Team that meets after school.
She is passionate about getting kids into STEM and helps kids see that success isn’t limited to traditional academic paths.
“If I can get them excited about Robotics or STEM careers, hopefully they will like it and pursue a STEM job. A lot of them don’t have access and they don’t know what kind of jobs are out there for them to get,” she said. “If you work in theatre, you have to have programing knowledge to coordinate the sound and lights. That could be a career.”