Congratulations to Virginia Stair, Silas Wood Sixth Grade Center’s Teacher of the Year!  Mrs. Stair has been part of the South Huntington family since BEFORE she was a teacher.  She’s an alum, so she felt like she was being called home when she was hired to teach fourth grade at Birchwood in 2005.  Mrs. Stair has also taught third grade and AIS Math at Birchwood where she has spent most of her career, and also kindergarten and first grade at Countrywood.  For the last four years she’s been at Silas Wood where she was transferred in 2020 to teach English on Team 1. She describes her days at Silas as filled with laughter, positivity, and a sense of accomplishment.

Teaching is actually Mrs. Stair’s second career.  Before becoming an educator, she worked as a project manager for a landscape design firm but her boss kept telling her that she missed her calling and should look into a career in education.  With the help of a good friend who was teaching in New York City schools, Mrs. Stair decided to take a chance and make a change.  She acquired her NYC teaching license and within a week landed a job at a public school in East Harlem as an AIS math teacher for second through sixth grade. She calls it a “baptism by fire” moment because she had no teaching experience.  She worked hard to reach her students and after two years of teaching math, moved to teaching fourth grade at the same school and fell “completely in love” with the profession.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Humanities from SUNY Old Westbury and a Masters of Science in Education from Long Island University.

To her colleagues, Mrs. Stair is a leader who motivates, excites, and understands her students, and inspires both in and out of the classroom.  Mrs. Stair has been a building union representative, member of the Silas Wood SBM team, Project Excel and Homework Help teacher and part of the Silas Wood safety team. She is also a part of the district and building Instructional Rounds team and is the 23-24 ELA Coach.  She’s especially looking forward to taking part in the annual Lip Sync Battle for the first time this year. 

One of the groups Mrs. Stair is very committed to has a personal connection for her.  As a dedicated mom, she helps her family and son deal with his rare genetic disorder, Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH).  It affects the adrenal glands resulting in an imbalance of hormones the body needs to function.  Last year Mrs. Stair organized a fundraising walk at Silas Wood to support the CARES Foundation which advocates for those with CAH.  It involved the entire school and brought students and staff together to successfully support this important cause.  The greater sense of compassion and tolerance Mrs. Stair sees in her students is teaching her to have faith in our future, and that kindness prevails.  She’s happy to still be in contact with some of her former students 20 years later.

Mrs. Stair said that every Silas Wood teacher that was nominated is dynamic, dedicated, and so deserving of the Teacher of the Year title.  She is so humbled and honored to be the one to receive such acclaim.