Elementary teacher Wade Whitehead shares his expertise with Virginia’s student teachers

I always enjoy sharing stories about gifted educators. Today I’m sharing the story of Wade Whitehead, a fifth grade teacher from Roanoke, Virginia.

Wade earned his Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Elementary Education from the College of William and Mary in 1994. In 2009 he earned his Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Virginia.

This chalkboard champion inaugurated his career as an educator when he accepted a position as a second grade teacher at Westside Magnet School for the visual and Performing Arts. He taught there until 1997. Since then, he has taught third and fifth grades at Crustal Spring School. His teaching career has spanned a total of 22 years.

Wade is a fourth-generation teacher. Both his parents were elementary teachers. “As a youngster, I spent countless summer days in my parents’ empty classrooms,” remembers Wade. “I witnessed the business end of teaching as they worked at the kitchen table and on the living room floor in the evenings and on weekends,” he once said. “At an early age, I become curious about the mechanisms that drive teaching and that galvanize learning. By the time I was reaching a career decision point, I knew I wanted to dig into exactly how imagination, discovery, and sharing combine to produce new and meaningful understanding and knowledge.”

And he’s more than willing to share his expertise. Wade has led the creation and implementation of the Teachers of Promise Institute, which provides the best of Virginia’s student teachers an opportunity to interact with and learn from master educators from all over Virginia. He often serves as a guest instructor to practicing and pre-service teachers at nearby universities.

For his work in the classroom, Wade has earned a great deal of recognition. In 2000 Roanoke City Public Schools named him Teacher of the Year  and the Milken Foundation gave him their National Educator Award. In 2001, he garnered a USA Today Teacher Award. In 2001, he earned a McGlothlin Award for Teaching Excellence by the McGlothlin Foundation and was named Teacher of the Year by the Southwest Virginia Forum on Education.  In 2013, Roanoker Magazine name him him Most Inspiring Teacher, and in 2016 Wade was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame in Emporia, Kansas.