Staton is Teacher of the Year

An educator "with the ability to bring out the best in children" has been selected as the Wyoming County Teacher of the Year.

Cindy Staton (holding daughter Lauren) was named the Wyoming County Teacher of the Year at last Tuesday's Board of Education meeting. Staton is an educator at Huff Consolidated School. BOE President Perry Cook (left) presents the plaque, and Pineville Furniture owner Jeff Halsey presented a check. (Photo by John Conley)

Cynthia "Cindy" Staton, a teacher at Huff Consolidated School, was honored at last Tuesday's Board of Education meeting.

"I believe there are people born with the innate ability to be a good teacher" said Superintendent of Schools Frank "Bucky" Blackwell of Mrs. Staton.

"She exemplifies what makes an outstanding teacher," remarked John Nolley, a member of the TOY selection committee.

"This is truly an honor and I appreciate it so much," Staton told the board. "I'm sustained by a strength that's not mine."

An educator for nearly 21 years, Staton has been at Huff since 1992, first as a Title I teacher and since 2006 as a fifth grade instructor.

"It is truly an honor to represent the teachers of Wyoming County," she stated, "We have a treasure of excellent teachers, and I'm blessed to work with them. As teachers, we have been entrusted with God's most precious gift and blessing - our children."

She said her parents and other educators inspired her to become a teacher.

(My parents) always emphasized the importance of education," she stated. "They instilled in my eight brothers and sisters and me a love for learning, a desire to help others, and the vision to reach for and work towards our goals."

"I was also blessed with many wonderful teachers throughout elementary and high school," she added. "They had a great influence on my desire to become a teacher."

She is involved in a number of worthy causes, including serving as a coordinator for an annual fund raiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, co-coordinator of a recycling fund raiser of the Ronald McDonald House, a team member for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, a member of the school's flood relief committee and a member of the Cyclone Missionary Baptist Church Ladies Aide.

Staton is a graduate of Concord College, where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education K-8 and Mathematics 4-8.

She has a master's from the West Virginia Graduate College in Reading Education K-12.

She and her husband, Larry, reside in Oceana, and are the parents of two daughters, Lauren, who is one and a half, and Lindsay, who passed away in June 2008 after a battle with childhood cancer.

She is the daughter of Virginia Walls of Cyclone and the late Rev. Guy Walls and daughter-in-law of Veatrice Staton of Matheny and the late Garland Staton.

She is a member of the Cyclone Missionary Baptist Church and also the West Virginia Education Association, West Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Alpha Theta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.