First Grade Wallingford Teacher Named Connecticut Teacher of the Year

A first-grade teacher from Wallingford has been selected as the 2018 Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

The honor was bestowed Tuesday upon Erin Berthold, a teacher at Cook Hill School who was selected from among four finalists, 15 semifinalists and more than 100 district-level teachers of the year.

"The teacher of the year committee said to me on Thursday, 'Do you have any questions?' And I said, 'I just want to say thank you. I've never had so many people come together for me before," Berthold said.   

Berthold has been an early childhood educator at Cook Hill School since 2015, according to the Connecticut Department of Education. Before that, she was a special education teacher at Yalesville Elementary and Moses Y. Beach Elementary School, also in Wallingford.

Berthold previously worked at Lincoln Middle School in Meriden and Woodhouse Academy in Milford.

“As an early childhood educator, Mrs. Berthold has the opportunity to inspire a love of learning and set up her students for lifelong success. Congratulations to Mrs. Berthold on being named the 2018 Teacher of the Year and thank you to all of our educators for the work that you do each day on behalf of Connecticut children,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said in a statement.

According to the state Department of Education, Berthold originally planned to pursue a degree in the arts and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in digital media from Marist College.

However, her mother was a teacher to young children in New York and that inspired Berthold to combine her interests in the arts and education and pursue a master’s degree in teaching, childhood and special education, which she obtained from St. Thomas Aquinas College, according to the state Department of Education.

"My mother is a teacher and she suggested I spend a day with her at school and that kind of changed my life. I said, this is what I want to do," Berthold

“I encourage students to take action,” Berthold said in a statement. “They may encounter some bumps along the way, but the best and deepest learning occurs when students reroute themselves. I believe children need to learn to make decisions regarding their own learning at an early age, so they are prepared to make life decisions. I encourage students to try new things, pursue their interests, and see failure as an opportunity for growth.”

A statewide committee of former teachers of the year and representatives from a variety of education organizations selected Berthold from among four finalists, 15 semifinalists, and more than 100 district-level teachers of the year.

Berthold said she thinks having fun in the classroom with her 6-year-old students makes a big difference.

"Sometimes the kids have even said to me, 'Well, we didn't learn anything today. All we did today was have fun,'" Berthold said. "I'm like, 'What are you talking about? We did science, we did reading,' and they don't even realize how much they're learning by just playing." 

Berthold succeeds 2017 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, Lauren Danner, a science teacher at North Branford High School.

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