A native of Sidney and a Howard Payne University graduate, Megan Norvil completed her 13th year of teaching this past May earning the accolade of Brownwood ISD’s Secondary Teacher of the Year.
“It was very surprising and humbling,” Norvil said. “There’s so many teachers every year that deserve it and work so hard, and when you’re the one they choose, I’m just very grateful they saw that in me this year and chose me to the be the recipient.”
Norvil grew up in a family full of teachers, and was determined not to follow that path earlier in life.
“My entire family is made up of teachers and coaches and because of that I did not want to be a teacher,” Norvil said with a laugh. “I wanted to do something different, my own thing, and see what else is out there. After a couple of years of corporate jobs, I was really feeling called to do something I just felt was more meaningful. At the end of the day I wanted to feel like I was doing something of value and once I really prayed about it and looked it, that field was teaching. I went back and got my alternative certification and I’ve been teaching for 13 years now. What keeps me going is the kids and the community. About the time you start wondering if you’re doing anything right you have a kid come up and tell you how much you helped them or how much you mean to them and it makes you keep on going.”
Norvil’s teaching career, which also included coaching for a while, started at bigger schools before she returned closer to home.
“I taught and coached in Weatherford for two years, then I was at Leander Rouse for three years teaching and coaching,” Norvil said. “Then I was the head girls basketball coach and teaching in Bastrop for three years. I’m originally from Sidney and went to Howard Payne and played basketball there. I was looking for a slower paced lifestyle and to be back close to family so five years ago I moved back to Brownwood and been here since then.”
Throughout her teaching career, Norvil has, “mostly done English II on level and pre AP. This last year I also did English III on level and Practical Writing. Next year it’s looking like I might have some English I as well. I started out in English I, I’ve done English III, Modified English, and Practical Writing, so I’ve run the gamut of English classes at the high school level.”
Reflecting on previous teaching influences in her life, Norvil said, “Dr. (Julie) Welker at Howard Payne is probably one of the greatest teachers ever. She was just always so personable and understanding. She expected a lot out of us, but was very approachable and cared about us outside the classroom. I was playing basketball at the time and my schedule was crazy and she always good about working with me on things. That’s something I really try to emulate, and then of course my whole family is made up of teachers – my mom, my aunt, my sister, my brother-in-law, they’re all still going in education and have made a really big impact on me as well.”
The more rewarding aspect of being a teacher, according to Norvil, is, “When kids know that you truly care about them. English is not everybody’s favorite subject anymore, reading and writing can be pretty difficult to get kids to enjoy, but when you have a that says, “I don’t like English, but I love your class,’ or ‘Because of you now I like English,’ or ‘I never understood it until I had you,’ those moments are what keep you going and make you feel like you’re fulfilled and what you’re doing is making an impact.”
When it comes to what people underestimate or overlook most when it comes to educators, Norvil said, “ It’s probably how much we actually do and how much we cover. I say I’m an English teacher but I could put down Psychologist and so many other things. So much has gotten to where it’s trying to teach kids how to act with others, and how to communicate with others. I’m really big on trying to get them to realize that how they speak and interact with me is how they’ll essentially interact with a boss one day. Shaking somebody’s hand, looking them in the eye, being able to hold a conversation with an adult, answer questions, not get defensive. There’s so many elements I feel like are outside of the ‘teacher teaching reading and writing’ approach. Once you build that relationship, then they vent to you about what they’re going through, their struggles outside of the classroom and it matters when we show up to what’s going on with them whether it’s sports or theater or band or choir. Anything they have going, they really care that their teachers show up, so putting in that extra time so they know we do generally care about them is another aspect to it.”
Asked what excites her most about the future of teaching, Norvil said, “People are starting to realize where we’ve gone wrong. We’ve tried some things as a society in education that might have been set forth with good intentions, but they weren’t handled the best. I’m starting to see a shift back to the little things that we did right, like getting back to pen and paper and not so much technology. Parents are starting to realize that it takes all of us to get this done. Parents are wanting to get involved and be supportive and understand the teacher’s perspective. It feels like we’re all on the same team instead of one side vs. the other. We all have the children’s’ best interests at heart, that’s why we need to work together to make sure they’re as successful as they can be.”
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BrownwoodNews.com will highlight one Brown County educator per day in the month of July, based on nominations received on our Facebook page, for our Teacher Feature series.