A passion for helping youth coupled with a desire to make each day rewarding led Jon Ezell away from his planned career as an engineer and into education.

The students of Polk County Schools have reaped the benefits of that decision.

Ezell, a mathematics teacher at Polk County High School, has been named the district’s 2016-17 Teacher of the Year, also earning nomination as the North Carolina Teacher of the Year.

Spending each day in the classroom isn’t the life that Ezell imagined when he graduated from high school and began considering his career options. But he soon found himself drawn to education, thanks in no small part to summer breaks from his early studies in pursuit of a degree in mechanical engineering.

“As a college student with summers off, my former youth pastor asked me to help chaperone mission and camp trips,” Ezell recounted. “I really liked working with the kids from a leadership and role model position. At the end of the trips, I found myself missing these interactions and immediately started looking forward to my next opportunity.

“I also began to understand that getting up each day to do a job that was uninspiring, even with a large salary, would not be as rewarding as getting up each day to do something I enjoyed. It was in the spring of my second year of studying engineering that I decided that working with children was my calling and I changed my major to education.”

A 1999 graduate of Appalachian State with a B.S. in Mathematics Secondary Education, Ezell began his teaching career at Apple Valley Middle School in Hendersonville. He also worked at North Henderson and West Henderson high schools before joining the Polk County faculty in August 2014.

“I am amazed every day by how much this school system truly puts the best interests of the students first,” Ezell said. “I work for a great group of local administrators and senior staff who are mission-driven to ‘Do what is right for students.’

“They are focused on developing a working environment that encourages the entire school system to work as a team toward this goal.”

In addition to his duties in the classroom, Ezell often volunteers his time when possible to help the Polk County High community. He is, for example, serving as an assistant volleyball coach this season and has in the past tutored students, helped with Saturday classes and driven an activity bus.

“I have chosen to commit as much time as I can in my school community, as there is as much need there as the free time one can spare,” Ezell said.

Polk County Schools Superintendent Aaron Greene praised Ezell’s efforts to put students at the heart of his actions.

“Mr. Ezell is a force in the classroom,” Greene said. “His love of learning and belief in public education are evidenced in practice. Mr. Ezell believes in holding students accountable for their own work while providing the necessary resources and support for them to be successful.

“I think it would be hard to find another teacher with Mr. Ezell’s unique combination of caring, attributes, teaching prowess and drive to serve young people. Mr. Ezell is thoughtful, articulate and an incredible advocate for public education and his peers.”

As a math I teacher, Ezell primarily teaches freshmen, and it is with those ninth graders, new to Polk County High School, where his teaching approach shines brightest, according to principal Mary Feagan.

“Ninth graders are typically apprehensive about entering high school, unsure of their place and trying very hard to fit in,” Feagan said. “Jon has a real understanding of their angst and does his utmost to help them feel comfortable and secure.

“They find his class a haven, a place to be accepted and reassured that everything will be okay. Jon is not a pushover, however, and students know that they are expected to behave, do their work and respect him, themselves and others.”

Nine regional teachers of the year will be announced in late December or early January, with the state teacher of the year announced in spring 2017.

– article submitted by PolkStudents.com