Matanzas High School Teacher of the Year: Nancy Snell

Palm Coast Observer
Your Town

Matanzas Teacher of the Year Nancy Snell’s educational career began in Papua New Guinea, then shifted to Panama, then to ESOL instruction in the Florida Panhandle before she moved to Matanzas in 2019 as the school’s instructional literacy coach.

"Seeing a student grow and change in the classroom is a testimony to the difference a teacher can make."

— NANCY SNELL, Matanzas High School Teacher of the Year

As instructional literacy coach, she serves many classrooms, assisting new teachers and English Language Arts teachers, and visited all junior and senior Intensive Reading classes at the beginning of the year to share a graduation presentation.

On the school’s multi-tiered student supports team, she spends extra time with seniors, helping prepare them for graduation through one-on-one and small group chats to review requirements.

"Seeing a student grow and change in the classroom is a testimony to the difference a teacher can make,” Snell wrote in an essay submitted as part of her Teacher of the Year application. "This is a difference that can have a far-reaching effect as these students step into adulthood and become valued members of their community. Any challenge or hardship along the way pales in comparison to knowing you have made a difference in the life of a student.”

One of Snell’s responsibilities is to support new Matanzas teachers with mentoring and coaching. That’s become more demanding as the number of new teachers has increased.

With many new teachers beginning work days or even weeks after school has started and therefore missing the regular new teacher orientation, Snell suggested that on a teacher’s first day, she provide a morning orientation and remain available for troubleshooting through the afternoon.

That proved helpful, and Snell’s weekly support schedule was shifted to include slots for rotating into new teachers’ classrooms for support.

Many in education anticipated a return to normalcy this school year, and that hasn’t happened. But Snell had a message of optimism.

“It’s easy to focus on how things have changed, how things are different, and how things are disappointing," she wrote. "Teaching is a career of hope. Hope for the future. Hope that you are touching a student’s life. Hope that what you are doing is making a difference for today and the future. Be the one that rises above the challenges and makes that difference.”