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Deirdre Sponheimer
SEYMOUR — Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat.
Those words often uttered by her dad never rang more true for Deirdre Sponheimer, a product of the Seymour schools and 2008 graduate of Seymour High School. The 30-year old Seymour Middle School teacher was recently named Seymour’s Teacher of the Year for 2021 – 2022.
For Sponheimer, teaching is a family affair. She’s the daughter of SHS’ longtime Wildcats football coach and teacher Paul “Spoony” Sponheimer, and mom Elizabeth, a teacher in neighboring Oxford for nearly 40 years. Her grandfather taught, coached and served as SHS’ athletic director and her aunt also taught in Seymour.
“I remember my mom bringing me to school with her and seeing her interact with her students,” Sponheimer said. “One time in particular, she had them up and moving, learning about the decades through research about the music, dance and poetry of the times. They were engaged, learning and having fun. I remember thinking, ‘Hmmm, I can do this.’”
Sponheimer also credits many of her former teachers when she was a student at Bungay School, SMS and SHS, for instilling a love of teaching.
“I was not always the best student in the classroom,” she said “I was never the shining star or top of the class. However, I had teachers that pushed me and engaged me with learning. I don’t ever remember not wanting to go to school, even if there was a math test that day.”
Sponheimer, who began student teaching at SHS and has been teaching at SMS for the past seven years, was thrilled by the honor. Being nominated by some of her students was especially humbling.
“For 13-year olds to even take a second out of their day to reflect on how a teacher has made an impact or difference for them is really special,” Sponheimer said. “That really says something about the kids we have in our community.”
Being named top teacher in a year when school was turned upside down due to the COVID-19 pandemic was significant for Sponheimer, who’s happy to be back with the kids in the classroom, in person, again.
“They logged on, showed up and persevered,” she said.
It’s the students that make coming to work every day a joy for Sponheimer, and often leads to those “ah ha” moments about her decision to pursue a career in teaching.
“It could be a student connecting with a character in a book,” she said. “It could be when a student comes running in to tell me about her weekend. It could be when the quiet student suddenly raises his hand to share an answer. Little victories are big victories in teaching.”
Superintendent of Schools Michael Wilson surprised Sponheimer with flowers in the school hallway last week (May 11) and announced she’d been named Teacher of the Year.
“As we all know, a teacher’s job is not only to teach their students in order to make them better individuals, but also to instill a passion and love of learning,” Wilson said in a statement. “Deirdre has always done these two things with complete commitment.”
Sponheimer credits her dad for playing a big role in impacting students’ lives, not only on the ball field or in the classroom, but in life. She hopes to impart that wisdom on her own students.
“He coached football, but his motto was always ‘the program for life,’” she said. “I knew I wanted to have that kind of impact in my classroom. I want to teach my kids to be better readers and writers, but I also want to help them be better people. I want to help them learn to make better choices and, and when they make the wrong ones, help them understand how to do better the next time. If they leave my classroom better people, I have done my job.”
