1 December 2006

Longwood alumna chosen
Teacher of the Year for Richmond public schools

Stephenia Sisk Muterspaugh (’89) was recently selected the 2007 Teacher of the Year for the Richmond public schools.

Muterspaugh, a social studies teacher at the Adult Career Development Center (ACDC), received the award at a reception Nov. 15 that recognized each of the 49 nominees. She received $1,000, will be recognized during the School Board meeting Dec. 4 and will compete for the state award.

Muterspaugh, a Richmond native, is in her seventh year at ACDC, an alternative high school of about 550 students, many of whom come from adverse situations and are considered at-risk. She teaches U.S. History, World Geography and U.S. Government in the school’s “high school completion program,” one of several programs. Other students there are pursuing a G.E.D.

This past year Muterspaugh’s students had a pass rate of 100 percent on the U.S. History Standards of Learning (SOL) exam, making ACDC the only school in the metropolitan Richmond area with a 100 percent pass rate in social studies. One of her students had a perfect score of 600. Both accomplishments were firsts for her school.

“When I think of Ms. Muterspaugh, I think of high expectations for all students,” said her principal, Martha Suber. “She holds her students accountable to the ACDC school-wide expectation for being ‘on time and on task.’ She uses creative activities to reach our students’ varied levels of ability. For Ms. Muterspaugh, failure is not an option. She works with her students to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to not only take and pass the SOL test, but to develop the study skills necessary to enter the world of higher education. She is fair and firm and her students excel in the classroom.”

Muterspaugh, who has functioned “like a department head” for four years, said her job can be both rewarding and challenging. “Some days it can be very frustrating,” she said. “Many of the students are here because their home schools have given up on them. Fortunately, my classes are small – my biggest one has 10 students – and the administration has given me support and stood behind me.”

ACDC, in the Jackson Ward section near downtown Richmond, occupies the building that housed Armstrong High School, the city’s first school for black students, from 1923 to 1951.

Though she intended to teach, Muterspaugh married less than a year after graduating from Longwood and, due to the work of her first husband, lived in rural areas (including Clifton Forge from 1992-99) where history teaching positions were scarce. She started teaching after moving back to Richmond in 1999.

At Longwood, where she earned a B.S. in history, Muterspaugh was a member of Delta Zeta sorority and was its recording secretary her senior year. She and her husband, Danny, live in western Henrico County with their nine-year-old son, Bryan, and his three children, Kristin, Mason and Grant. She is a graduate of St. Gertrude High School and is the daughter of Jack and Lois Sisk.