Using technology and focusing on her students makes AP Language and Composition teacher Tara Seale stand out.  After being recognized as a stand-out teacher in The Arkansas Council of Teachers of English, she was recently given the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Teacher of the Year Award.

“They look at our resume, what we’ve contributed, what we’ve done… I won the award at the NCTE luncheon in November, in Las Vegas,” Seale said.

Principal Jay Pickering said Seale is dedicated to teaching every one of her students until they are ready to take the AP exam, and she does not settle for less than every student’s best effort.

“She really got us all involved in the class…  She is really good at making us think differently, because a lot of other teachers are focused on, ‘these are the things you have to learn for the test,’ and she wants us to go deeper than that,” junior Davis Nossaman said.

Seale is highly respected by her students, principals and fellow teachers alike.

“Her dedication to all of her students in the three years that I have worked with Mrs. Seale, whether it was with the Ninth Grade Academy with students who were low performing students in English, all the way to now working with our top English students in eleventh grade.  She’s shown a dedication and a work ethic that is second to none,” principal Jay Pickering said.