Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Thermopolis Middle School mathematics teacher, Catelyn Deromedi, won Teacher of the Year for the 2015-16 school year.
"I was shocked that I won Teacher of the Year," Deromedi said. "I don't believe I deserve it anymore than anyone else in the district. I feel like everybody works their hardest every single day. It was definitely an honor to get the award. I hope that I can represent the Hot Springs County school district the best that I possibly can at the state level."
Deromedi said she loves teaching because she loves being able to help kids.
"Helping the kids is probably the best thing about teaching," she said. "I go to work every day and do the best I can for the students. I always want to do what's best for them and I love to help people."
Originally from Loraine, Ill., Deromedi said she loves living in Thermopolis.
"The community that we have and the school district are amazing," she said. "I love working with the people I work with at the middle school. They support me every single day. They give me leadership opportunities that I'm not sure I'd get elsewhere."
Deromedi said she has always loved math. In Hot Springs County, she worked two years as a fifth grade teacher and three years as a sixth grade mathematics teacher.
"I have to attribute my love for math to my high school math teacher," she said. "He would teach the hard method first and then the easy method afterwards. That just clicked for me. The way I teach is I teach several methods and whatever works for each individual student is fine with me as long as they are solving the problems."
Deromedi attended Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo. She said she met Superintendent Dustin Hunt at a job fair at Iowa University. Hunt offered her a job and she accepted.
"Thermopolis Middle School is the only school I've ever taught at," she said. "I can't imagine teaching anywhere else."
Thermopolis Middle School principal Breez Daniels is the most inspiring person to work under, Deromedi said.
"She inspires teachers to be leaders," she said. "I owe it all to her."
Watch for stories on the retirees from the district which will be printed in the Independent Record prior to the end of the school year.
Reader Comments(0)