District announces teacher of the year

Staff report

Youngstown

The city school district selected a math and pre-engineering teacher as its 2011-12 teacher of the year.

Sharon Stellmar Ragan will be honored at a school assembly at 2 p.m. Monday at the Chaney School Campus.

“I was meant to be a teacher,” said Ragan, who has been teaching since 1989. “I knew this since I was a little girl, and it became my lifelong goal, my calling and my purpose.”

She teaches eighth-grade math and sixth- through eighth-grade pre-engineering at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program at Chaney where she uses technology modules in her instruction, including robotics and automation. She’s been a city school teacher for 11 years.

“To educate is to light a fire and make students aware of the differences they can make to the world,” Ragan said. “I believe that the finest gift you can give yourself or anyone else is a good education. Our students need great role models to teach them and care for them.”

Ragan lives in Struthers with her husband, Bob, and their two sons, R.J. and Nick. She is a graduate of Youngstown State University where she earned a bachelor of science degree in education and a master of science in elementary curriculum.

She was awarded the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Math and Science, Governor’s Award for Excellence in Youth Science Opportunities, was acknowledged by Phi Kappa Pi and the Ohio Industrial Institute for Education and nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.