Wilmesher Named Sullivan School District Teacher of the Year

The Sullivan School District is pleased to announce Ms. Theresa Wilmesher as the District Teacher of the Year.

Wilmesher teaches first grade at Sullivan Primary School. She has been in the Sullivan School District for 20 years and teaching for 21 years, the past 14 years as a first-grade teacher.  Wilmesher is an active member of the Primary building and District.  She has been president for over fifteen years for the Sullivan Community Teachers’ Association.  The community is important to Ms. Wilmesher.  She is a member of the Fraternal Order of the Eagles #3781 and St. Anthony’s Church.  She also participates in the Meramec Community Fair, helping with the 4-H Livestock and pageants.  

Wilmesher’s most significant professional accomplishment is teaching students to learn how to read.  "When the students come to me at the beginning of the school year, they always say, ‘I don’t know how to read.’ My response is, by the end of the year, you will know how to read," Wilmesher said. 

She takes time to get to know the students in her class and the other students in the Primary building.

Wilmesher strives to be the best teacher and coworker to everyone in the building.  She takes her job seriously, puts in many long hours, and continues to grow as an educator. 

The announcement coincides with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) process. 

Wilmesher’s District-Level Teacher of the Year recognition allows her to apply for the South Central Regional Teacher of the Year. The major purpose of the Teacher of the Year program is to recognize the contributions of the classroom teacher.

Teacher quality and effectiveness is the most important school-based factor impacting student learning. No one person has a more significant impact on a child’s education than the teacher who creates the learning environment where children flourish and grow. The mission of the Missouri Teacher of the Year Program is to honor, promote and celebrate excellence in the teaching profession (https://dese.mo.gov/educator-quality/educator-development/teacher-year-program).

The Sullivan School District recognizes and congratulates Wilmesher on being selected as the 2021 District Teacher of the Year.