Pequea Valley Secondary (PVS) teacher Kate Stoltzfus was recently named as Secondary Math Teacher of the Year by the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 and the Lancaster County STEM Alliance.

Stoltzfus, who teaches Algebra I, Honors Algebra II and AP Statistics, was recognized for her honor at an awards ceremony in May.

"It's incredibly honoring," said Stoltzfus, who has been teaching in the district since 2015. "I work very hard, but so do so many around me. I'm just so grateful to work for a district that recognizes their faculty who works hard and supports their staff."

Stoltzfus was nominated for the award by PVS principal John Trovato, who referred to the teacher as the "Mary Poppins of Math."

"She strives to reach each kid where they are at, and helps to push them to reach their potential," Trovato said. "She is a leader in the school, a role model for her colleagues, and a person that has the utmost respect of the entire staff."

She also serves as the lead facilitator (department chair) for the math team at PVS, as well as serving as a TRIBE leader. Stoltzfus said that she elects to teach Algebra I for two main reasons: to be in-tune with the challenges her colleagues are facing, and to be involved with state testing.

Stoltzfus also runs support groups for some of Pequea Valley's middle school students, which is an added benefit of the schools being combined into one building ahead of the most recent school year.

TRIBE is an acronym for "Teaching Resiliency to Individuals by Experience." It is an elective course for PVS students that concludes with either a 50-mile hike down the Appalachian Trail from the Mason-Dixon Line to Harpers Ferry, W. Va., or a trip to Glacier National Park in Montana, depending on the year.

The Mason-Dixon hike is a four-day trip down the trail; students also get trained in first aid and CPR on the expedition. On the Montana trip, a roughly 10-day experience, students volunteer in the gardens and with landscaping, working side-by-side with park rangers.

"It's great for the kids, because they learn they can do hard things," Stoltzfus said. "There's nothing that instills mental grit like this program does for them, because we hike rain or shine, and we've had years where we've had incredibly challenging weather."

Stoltzfus said that she got into teaching because of a female math teacher that she had growing up, one that had her doctorate while instructing in a high school classroom. While earning her bachelor's degree from Penn State, she began tutoring on the side to start paving her way as an educator.

Following in her inspiration's footsteps, Stoltzfus earned her master's degree in teaching and curriculum back in 2010.

Along with crediting her administration for the honor, Stoltzfus thanked her students for being tremendous to work with. She stated that education is a tough job, but that she's incredibly thankful to be doing it at Pequea Valley.

"I love the family atmosphere," she said. "I know it sounds like a soundbite to say that I work for such a supportive administration, but I do, and I just can't say enough about that."