West Navarre Primary's Mayhew selected Santa Rosa County Teacher of the Year
BY FRANKLIN HAYES Gulf Breeze News franklin@gulfbreezenews.com

Franklin Hayes/Gulf Breeze News Santa Rosa County's Teacher of the Year Nicole Mayhew

It only takes a few minutes walking the halls of West Navarre Primary to understand that the students are very proud of one teacher in particular. Nearly every wall is plastered with brightly colored posters congratulating Nicole Mayhew, the county's teacher of the year. The first grade educator was chosen out of a pool of 33 teachers, one representing each school in the county.

"She has that knack of being able to find a way to instill a love of learning in all her children," the school's principal, Sandy Eubanks, said. "She's always willing to have practicum teachers and she welcomes parent volunteers. She uses them to help enrich her instruction."

Despite all the attention that comes with her countywide recognition, Mayhew remains level-headed about her accomplishments.

"I'm not used to all the attention," Mayhew said with a humble smile. "I'm not sure what happened and how I got here, I just come in and do my job."

Even though the 11-year teaching veteran is responsible for all grade level appropriate subjects in her classroom, Mayhew openly admits that she has a passion for reading and technology.

She said at the beginning of every year, there's always at least one student that doesn't know how to read. She said watching that student's progress throughout the year is the most rewarding aspect of her job.

"At the end of every year, I like to have my kids good and ready for second grade," she said, briefly describing how she incorporates the Internet and a digital projector into her curriculum. "Every year with different kids that goal is a different challenge. I have to make sure I get them to where they need to be by the end of the year."

Mayhew said the most difficult portion of her career thus far is when she gave birth to her first child two years ago.

"Teaching is very time consuming if you want to be on top of your game. You have to come in early and stay late. It wasn't rare for me to come in on a Saturday to grade papers. When you have a baby, that all changes," she said. "I felt I could be a good mom or a good teacher but not both. I got lucky and was able to find good homecare."

Mayhew was chosen as the county's best teacher by a ninemember committee developed by the Santa Rosa Education Foundation. Now, the 1996 University of West Florida graduate will face off against 177,000 other teachers throughout Florida vying for the statewide title of teacher of the year.