What seemed to be an ordinary day for Ms. Missy Martinez took a surprising turn when the morning announcements started. On that particular day, the teacher of the year would be declared, and although Ms. Martinez knew that she had been nominated for the award by a close friend, she had no idea she would actually win.

“Westwood is fortunate to have the best teachers anywhere! When they announced my name over morning announcements, I was shocked,” Ms. Martinez said.

Assistant principal Ms. Kim Hodge entered the  classroom, along with several other staff members, bringing cake and flowers for Ms. Martinez. At the same moment, students in the classroom began to congratulate her. She was so shocked that she started crying.

Aside from teaching English, Ms. Martinez is involved in numerous other activities and school events, such as sponsoring Student Council and supervising the Westwood Chick-Fil-A Leader Academy. On her first day at Westwood, one of her friends who was Assistant Principal told her that she’d been assigned to be the class of 2002’s sponsor.

“I had no idea what I was getting into but it was a fun, crazy ride!” Ms. Martinez said.

She went on to be the sponsor for the classes of 2004, 2008, 2012, and the current class of 2016. She’s been involved with student counsel ever since!

“It has truly been one of the most rewarding journeys I have ever taken!  I get to meet so many students and help them as they navigate their clubs and officers,” Ms. Martinez said.

Ms. Martinez is also involved in the Leader Academy at Westwood.

“[The academy] is something that Mrs. Arterbury told me about last year,” Ms. Martinez said.

Westwood’s local Chick-Fil-A nominated the school for this special opportunity. There are only a select number  of schools in the nation that have been granted the opportunity to be a part of this program.

“At first, we were going to utilize all our StuCo Executive and Class Officers to get this program going. However, my officers felt that they already had important leadership positions, so why not have other students join in and learn to be effective leaders,” Ms. Martinez said.

Ms. Martinez and the members of the program recently accomplished their Do Good project, which was helping out a local nursing home called Autumn Leaves.

This is Ms. Martinez’s 21st year of teaching, and there are certainly so many great memories. She is very passionate about English and teaching her students.  

“I have every card, letter or note a student has ever written me. I have made some amazing friendships with former students and am proud to say that we are still friends. I feel blessed to have met so many wonderful kids because I have learned so much from them,” Ms. Martinez said.

Ms. Martinez tries to make English less intimidating, in order to make students’ high school English experience enjoyable.

Congratulations to Ms. Martinez for this honor. It is no surprise that she won, because she loves the subject that she teaches and does her best to share her knowledge with her students and hope that they will enjoy her lessons, as well as pushing her students to be the best they can.