Sharpsville teacher among finalists for Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year

Apr. 30—SHARPSVILLE — During a recent class, Dr. Jennifer Toney's third-grade students had a chance to learn about prefixes, suffixes and their meanings when added to words.

After an introduction to these concepts, Toney revealed a buried treasure — complete with a treasure chest and a few crowns.

This led to a "hunt," where students discovered clues that reinforced the day's grammar lesson while Toney, now wearing an explorer's hat and neckerchief, guided the students.

"Third grade is one of my favorite age groups to work with," said Toney, a third-grade English language arts teacher at Sharpsville Area Elementary School.

"At that age, the kids are really coming into their own and becoming independent, but they still appreciate when you're there to help them."

Toney lives in Sharpsville, "right by the school," with her husband and cats, and has spent 16 of her 18 years teaching at Sharpsville schools, previously teaching at the former Monsignor Geno Monti School in Farrell.

However, Toney's work is getting statewide recognition after she, along with 11 other educators, were announced as the 2025 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year finalists.

"The Shapiro administration commends these educators for their excellence in the classroom and commitment to their schools, students and communities," Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin said in a press release.

"Great educators change the lives of their students each and every day, and leave a lasting impact on them for life. The commonwealth is proud to have strong, enthusiastic teachers, inspiring their students to reach infinite possibilities of success."

Toney learned she was nominated in October, when she was running a conference for the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English.

While watching a speaker, Toney received an email from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that she had been nominated.

"I was so humbled, because for someone to nominate me out of the hundreds of teachers out there, it was such an honor," Toney said.

Along with her role as conference director for the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of English, Toney also serves as professional development committee chair for the Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and Technology.

After being notified in October, there were three rounds for the nominees to participate in, which included sharing different aspects of their careers, writing about their educational beliefs and sharing their teaching methods.

The 12 finalists will be recognized in Harrisburg this fall, with the state Teacher of the Year to be announced at a state awards ceremony later this year.

The Teacher of the Year will represent Pennsylvania at various national, regional and local functions, culminating in the National Teacher of the Year ceremony at the White House.

"I'm really looking forward to connecting with the other finalists and building a rapport with them, because each and every one of us could be chosen, and this is one of the most talented groups of educators we've ever had," Toney said.

Toney is a 2002 graduate of DuBois Central Catholic High School.

She received dual degrees in early childhood education and elementary education from Gannon University in Erie in 2006. She received her masters of education degree from Gannon in 2008.

"When I thought about what I wanted to study in college, I was very passionate about reading growing up, but I knew education was a field that would serve all other fields," Toney said.

Toney received her PhD with a focus on curriculum and instruction from Kent State University in 2017.

While working toward her doctorate, Toney would teach during the day and then drive to Kent State University twice a week. The program also included summer classes.

"A lot of my students had never really interacted with a person with a doctorate who wasn't a medical doctor, so this allowed us to talk about the different types of professions that are out there," Toney said.

A major part of Toney's teaching philosophy involves being authentic with the students and teaching them to become lifelong learners.

Whether that means creating an experience and atmosphere for the students or sometimes sharing her life experiences with the kids, such as the assignments involved in pursuing her doctorate, Toney said it was important to "talk the talk and walk the walk" with the students.

"When I was writing a lot for my dissertation, I could show the students how I sent a first draft to a professor and got a lot of feedback, so I'd have to go back and change something," Toney said.

"I want the kids to understand that their voices are powerful, and that their writing does matter."

As someone with a lifelong passion for reading, especially historical fiction, Toney is able to share that passion with her students through books and social studies courses.

Toney's class even features a library space with a couch and chair for the children to choose books and read at their leisure.

Toney said she "really enjoys" the district's one-to-one technology initiative, which provides each elementary student with an iPad and allows the students to use different resources, such as "Book Flex" through the school library's Pennsylvania Power Library system.

However, students still seem to prefer reading physical books over digital and audiobooks.

"I'd say nine out of 10 times, the children will go grab a book to read," Toney said.

This school year, Toney and a coworker reintroduced the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program, where teachers set a reading goal for students to read a certain amount each month.

Students who meet that goal can receive a gift receipt for a personal pan pizza, while students who meet the goal each month can earn a scholarship.

"It's really neat because it gets the kids reading, and its something some of their parents remember from when they were in third grade," Toney said.

About five years ago, Toney incorporated a program called "Gamification" over the content she teaches.

For something such as a literacy workshop, Toney can incorporate STREAMS, or Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art, Math and Social Studies, which keeps the predictable class schedule that students like but changes the tasks and objectives every day.

"When I'm teaching writing composition, I love teaching the students to be creators and seeing their ability to compose improve and their confidence grow," Toney said.

For anyone looking to enter the field of education, Toney recommended finding other teachers to rely on, and "to never stop learning" — from furthering one's education to getting involved in professional development groups.

"There's so many amazing things we can learn from each other, and unless we take the time to connect, we'll miss out on a lot of things," Toney said.

Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.