Ms. Toy Wins Educator of the Year Award

AP Calculus teacher Julie Toy was named Educator of the Year, based on nominations from the senior class in addition to deliberation on behalf of the Unionville Post’s Editorial Board. The Educator of the Year is expected to embody dedication, leadership and a commitment to inspiring students to learn both inside and outside of the classroom. Mrs. Toy won Educator of the Year because she consistently created an atmosphere conducive to learning, devoted time to helping students who did not understand the subject material, demonstrated an interest in students’ thoughts and ideas relating to the subject matter, connected studies to events outside the classroom, and caused students to retain the course material.

Toy explained that being named Educator of the Year was both surprising initially and deeply flattering, saying that it is especially rewarding when students recognize the effort put in on their behalf. As the teacher for AP Calculus AB, Toy fosters academic excellence and meaningful connections with her students and, according to her, “I love math, but I love my students more.” Moreover, a survey sent to the senior class reported that students found Toy to be an incredibly thoughtful, patient teacher who was able to break down complex, difficult calculus topics into more understandable concepts. Having worked in the Unionville Chadds Ford school district for the entirety of her career, Toy has been able to develop a series of meaningful connections between herself and her students.

Toy was originally inspired to pursue education by her high school math teacher. A lover of patterns and puzzles, Toy acknowledges that not everyone has the same relationship she does with the subject of math. Though she has always liked math, Mrs. Toy admitted that the subject was something she had to frequently work hard at. Oftentimes, Toy recognizes, math can be especially hard when concepts do not click for students. She also acknowledged that when these concepts do not click, it is easy for students to begin thinking that they themselves are bad at math when, really, they have not yet been able to wrap their minds around a particular idea. Toy stated, “My philosophy is to try to make math accessible and attainable to all of the students that take AP Calculus. Showing students the progression from one topic to the next and the application of concepts to the real world is my goal.”

Having taught many seniors over the years and writing countless letters of recommendation, Toy explained that having her students get accepted into their colleges of choice is something that she finds notably rewarding. Toy also expressed that beyond the course content, math serves as a microcosm of the world, for resiliency and problem solving are critical to success and, if at first you do not succeed, you can still solve a difficult problem. In this way, Toy’s classroom extends beyond equations and formulas, leaving students with lessons in perseverance.