Middle school teacher Sara Casassa has been named the 2022 New Hampshire State Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Barnard School

It is always a pleasure to share stories about talented educators who have earned accolades for their work in the classroom. One of these is Sara Casassa, a middle school teacher from New Hampshire. Sara has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year.

Sara’s career as an educator spans more than three decades. Since 2009, she has taught Language Arts and Social Studies courses to students in grades 6 through 8 at Barnard School in South Hampton. She also serves as the cross county coach and the yearbook advisor. As if all this were not enough, the indefatigable educator has also worked as a technology integrator and as her school’s webmaster. She has presented inservice on technology and literacy at a variety of workshops and conferences.

It was due to her innovative work with technology that Sara became the first choice for New Hampshire’s top teacher honors, says South Hampton School Board Chair Jim Kime. He praised the middle school English teacher for “leveraging technology,” even before Covid-19 forced widespread school closures. Kime noted that before the pandemic, Sara created a virtual classroom for a student who was forced to leave school for three to four weeks because of an illness. The virtual classroom she created became the prototype once COVID hit, and her expertise was invaluable to both the students and staff.

Despite this success, Sara insists that establishing and maintaining strong relationships are still at the heart of her teaching. “While teaching pedagogy has changed and needs of students and families are much different then they were 20 years ago, the importance of creating relationships, engaging in meaningful learning opportunities, and meeting students where they are has remained constant,” she declares.

Sara earned her Bachelor’s degree with a dual major in English and History and her Master’s degree in English, both from Boston College. She has also completed courses on her Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in curriculum and instruction.

To read more about Sara Casassa, see this article published by the New Hampshire Union Leader.