Foley High School announced Berkleigh Cirilli as its’ 2010 Teacher of the Year.

Cirilli came into teaching five years ago, beginning at FHS as a ninth grade English teacher. She lives in Foley and graduated from FHS in 1983. She grew up on Soldier’s Creek near Lillian and is married with one child. She graduated from Troy State University with a degree in English, creative writing and political science.

“Usually I teach ninth-grade English but this year I am teaching journalism, newspaper production and oral communication,” she said.

The Foley Onlooker sat down with the award winner to discuss her favorite part about teaching, how she became a teacher and what she has learned in her five years of teaching at FHS.

Q: How and why did you get into teaching?

A: Well, I was working as the director of communications for the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce. While working for the chamber and dealing with businesses and being out in the communty, I found myself being asked numerous questions about the schools and talking about whether the schools were adequate or above adequate. Whenever anybody wants to move to an area, the first thing they think about is the schools. I often found myself defending the schools, because the perception in other communities, not in our community, is that we have not so great schools. That’s not the case. Working at the chamber, I knew that wasn’t the case. I knew the teachers at FHS were doing a great job. So, it was kind of to help the teachers out.

One teacher left, and I asked the principal at the time if he would be interested in considering me for an interview. He said he would, and I applied and interviewed and was offered the job.

Q: How much time do you spend on your job outside of the usual school hours?

A: Outside of the usual 7:35 a.m. to 3:05 p.m. school hours, I’d say on average another three hours a day. That’s between doing work, lesson plans and grading papers. Also, I do extracurricular activities like attending athletic events. Football and baseball are my two favorites, but I like basketball and softball also.

Q: What is your favorite part about teaching?

A: It has to be the kids. No two kids are alike for sure, and I enjoy getting to know each of them personally.

Q: What is your least favorite part about being a teacher?

A: I really believe it’s a challenge to deal with apathy. There’s a lot of apathy among people today, and this area is not immune to it.

Q: Would you like to teach any other grades besides ninth grade or even besides high school?

A: Many high school teachers in the back of their minds would like to teach a college class at some point.

Q: What have you learned either about yourself or about your profession in the five years teaching here at FHS?

A: There was a student I had my first year here, and she had an attitude and was belligerent in the classroom and I had an issue with her. Later on, I defended her and didn’t turn her in on something. Eventually, she dropped out of school and went into the job program. But she came back one day for some reason and she came to see me, and she said, ‘Mrs. Cirilli, the one thing I will always remember from ninth grade to now is when you defended me and didn’t turn me in. You had faith in me and that made me want to be a better employee.’ As a teacher, you can’t ask for much more than a child in your classroom being affected to want to be a better person.

Also, I learned that adults don’t realize what impact kids have on their lives. We always talk about making an impact and affecting kids, but we don’t realize what affect they have on us.

Q: How much do you enjoy the months of June, July and August?

A: A lot. I enjoy them a lot. At the end of the day, teachers are so physically and emotionally spent. Teachers receive a lot of ribbing for the summer vacation, but you almost absolutely have to have it to regain the motivation and strength to be here, and the students need it too. But it’s a fun job. This is the first time in my life that I absolutely love getting up at 5 a.m. to go to work.