Excellent Educators is a WAVY-TV 10 initiative to celebrate local teachers who have gone above and beyond for their students and communities during the coronavirus pandemic. These Excellent Educators were nominated by their school divisions. Congratulations to these educators for all of their hard work and accomplishments!
Name: Debra Vaughan
Division: Gates County Public Schools
Position: Retired math teacher at Gates County High School
What the school division said about this Excellent Educator: Debra Vaughan is a retired math teacher who returned to teach two courses for Gates County High School in the 2019-2020 school year. When the coronavirus pandemic began, Vaughan wanted to find ways to continue to provide personalized instruction to her students. Vaughan worked with other teachers to navigate learning management systems and virtual classrooms.
Vaughan needed to find resources, beyond a paper packet, to assist her students. Because she felt that she knew the pitfalls they could encounter and the pace at which they should learn, she chose to create daily videos with her providing the instruction to supplement their paper resources.
The next semester Vaughan added to her video collection. She offers daily group tutoring and individual tutoring upon request. When other teachers are out, their students are invited to join her virtual classes. Vaughan has also worked with another teacher to determine the best math resources for students with special needs. Her commitment to her students and her dedication to our school goes above and beyond what is expected of a retired teacher in a part-time position.
