Travelers Rest High School's Rachael Weisinger named Childers Award recipient

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. — Travelers Rest High School English teacher Rachael Weisinger has been named a recipient of the 2016 Childers Education Foundation Teaching Excellence Award from Furman University. She received a $1,500 award during a conferral ceremony and special reception held earlier this month.

A committee of Furman faculty, along with school administrators and mentor teachers who worked closely with award nominees, used three main criteria in selecting the Childers Award winners: love of content, love of teaching, and love of student.

"Rachael Weisinger is an extraordinary and inspiring teacher," said Dr. Nelly Hecker, Furman University professor and department chair. "She not only cares for her students' growth and well-being, but also engages them in thoughtful, well-developed lessons. We are proud to honor her accomplishments as a teacher and as a Furman graduate."

Weisinger, an English major, graduated from Furman in May 2016.  In her first semester of teaching, she was named Travelers Rest High’s Teacher of the Month. Weisinger also led the high school newspaper’s  transition from a print product to an online edition and produced a large-scale fundraiser for the newspaper.

The Childers Education Foundation Teaching Excellence Award for first-year teachers was established in 2009 by Marybeth Bunting Childers, an education major at Furman who founded two schools and was named North Carolina Teacher of the Year, and her husband, Alfred Childers, a former member of Furman’s Board of Trustees.

Previous winners include Mary Varley and John Morrison in 2015; Alyssa Cameron, Amy McGreevy and Alison Williams in 2014; Caroline Lambert and Julie Jarriel in 2013; Alison Harwood and Matt Casella in 2012; Lara Savitz and Carol Ann Denyer in 2011; Katharine Hsu and Megan Schonhar in 2010; and Laura Jill Johnson and Phillippa Marion Maroney in 2009.