Shelburne teacher, Staunton registrar honored by Staunton School Board for their work

STAUNTON — Stacey Mooneyham and Melissa VanFossen were recognized by the Staunton School Board Monday night for their exceptional work in the school division.

Mooneyham was named the division-wide teacher of the year. She had been a business teacher at Shelburne Middle School for 16 years.

"She makes learning relevant for students, develops skills that last a lifetime and models kindness that impacts our entire community," said Staunton's Executive Director of Instruction, Stephanie Haskins. "Connections to real life are part of everyday instruction for Mrs. Mooneyham."

Haskins gave an example, saying that, during a recent visit to her classroom, she saw Mooneyham introduce students to the the term "foley artist," the person in charge of the recreating everyday sounds for movies and television shows.

"She shared video samples and three different artists who use multiple everyday items to recreate sounds before giving them an opportunity to give it a try on their own.," Haskins said. "This learning experience not only brought attention to this career, but it also increased appreciation for the creative sound imagery seen in movies."

Mooneyham also offers a Make It class where students are the owners and operators of the school store and design a product to meet an identified school or community need. She also offers a Start It class there students create a startup restaurant business in collaboration with another teacher's family consumer science class. They plan the menus, calculate the cost of items, test their recipes and make all other necessary preparations to open a restaurant to serve staff at the school.

"When students believe their abilities can improve with effort they become more confident in their potential to learn and succeed," Mooneyham said of the project. "Success takes time and perseverance. Successful entrepreneurs aren't born, they're developed."

Mooneyham helped organize the Highlanders for Hope program during her first year at Shelburne and it's still going strong now.

"This program continues to address student wellbeing and ultimately student's academic performance by providing a food pantry, clothing, toiletries and school supplies for students and families," Haskins said. "Mrs. Mooneyham has helped with fundraising efforts, community support, sponsored events, and student involvement in the program. Mrs. Mooneyham believes this program has a powerful ripple effect that spreads compassion of support throughout the school and creates a positive culture of belonging."

Mooneyham has served as a Future Business Leaders of America Advisor and has presented at the Association for Middle Level Education conference. She serves as a representative on Staunton’s Teacher Advisory Council and has been recognized as a SCS Kindness Ambassador.

Meanwhile, VanFossen was named the division's support staff person of the year. She has been with Staunton City Schools in various capacities since 1998 and, since 2012, has been the registrar at Staunton High School.

VanFossen graduated high school in Staunton and joined the school division in 1998 as a substitute teacher. A year later she was hired as a full-time instructional assistant at Shelburne Middle School. She became an administrative assistant at Shelburne in 2003, a role she remained in for nine years.

In 2012, VanFossen was promoted to the registrar at Staunton High School where she has served since.

"According to Melissa's colleagues, she is a very hardworking and helpful person and an important member of the Staunton High School counseling department and the Staunton City Schools community as a whole," said Jon Venn, Staunton's chief human resource officer. "The relationships that she's forged and developed over the past 25 years and the knowledge that she's brought to the school system are invaluable and priceless."

Venn said VanFossen is important to students for a variety of reasons, including helping them navigate the paperwork to apply for scholarships, sending transcripts for college and obtaining work verification for job placement.

"According to one of Melissa's colleagues, Melissa made an effort to make me feel supported and welcomed when I entered Staunton High School," Venn said. "It is clear Mrs. VanFossen takes a lot of pride in her work and helping others. She is constantly looking for ways to support all staff, students and families and her 'I-can-help' attitude is always present."

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— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton Schools names division teacher, support staff person of the year