Watauga County Schools recently received notification from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction that Mr. Erik Mortensen was selected as the 2024 Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year. Mortensen was named the 2023 WCS Teacher of the Year in May and was one of 16 teachers in the district 7 region in the running for this title.
Mortensen was one of the first people superintendent of schools Dr. Leslie Alexander met when she joined the district. She shared that she was impressed by him because he was such a kind person.
“He is optimistic and very helpful,” Alexander said. “He wants the best for others and to help in any way possible. I think that is what his students feel. He cares about them as individuals, and he will do anything he can to help. He is obviously an expert in his field, but his ability to combine his expertise with his genuine concern for each student is why he is the Teacher of the Year. We are so proud of him.”
Mortensen is an Auto Tech teacher at Watauga High School where he makes a considerable and proven difference in the lives of his students. Throughout the nomination process, his students and their parents, as well as colleagues shared remarkable testimonies about his character and the way he teaches.
Mr. David Koontz who serves as both an assistant principal at WHS and the Director of Career and Technical Education said what stands out most about working with Mr. Mortensen is how much he cares about his students.
“He is truly committed to providing the best facilities and resources for them to learn the skills they need for the workforce,” Koontz said. “He is in constant connection with local business partners to provide job opportunities for our students. Additionally, he is an active learner and reflects on his teaching practices.”
He shared that he and Mortensen had several great conversations on strategies or techniques to help his students be successful in the classroom and beyond.
“It is a joy to see his impact on the students in our automotive classes,” Koontz said.
WHS principal Mr. Scott Strickler said that for those who have had a chance to meet Mortensen, two things are evident. The first is his radiant smile that is immediately uplifting, and the second is his continual care and dedication to his students. Mr. Strickler said the care and dedication Mortensen shows to his students comes across in everything that he does.
“Erik’s instruction really brings all students along, regardless of whether they have never had a chance to turn a wrench or if they are seasoned in the garage,” Strickler said. ”And he brings them along with joy and celebration.”
On the evening of Nov. 17, Mortensen facilitated a National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (NATEF) meeting with nearly a hundred students and dozens of local, regional, and national auto tech and business representatives. At the event there were interactions and networking opportunities for both students and business representatives. Students were able to meet potential employers in the automotive industry, while the business representatives heard about students who excel in Mortensen’s automotive classes.
Strickler said that student celebrations like this are commonplace in Mortensen’s daily classroom activities, in his interactions with students throughout the school building, and when he visits his former students in mechanic shops throughout the High Country.
Strickler and other members of WHS and Central Office administration banded together to plan a surprise ceremony to recognize Mortensen in grand fashion. 2023 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year Kimberly Jones and 2023 Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year Shea Bolick were both special guests at the ceremony.
The exciting events that unfolded on the afternoon of Dec. 1 were made possible due to a wonderful display of teamwork between WHS and WCS administration and Mortensen’s students. Superintendent Dr. Leslie Alexander alerted Mortensen about an issue with one of the tires on her vehicle. While he went to lend a hand, his colleagues, members of the Board of Education, students, local media, Jones and Bolick all piled into his workshop ready to congratulate him with balloons, cheers and smiles. Mortensen was delighted to see his current and former students at the celebration, along with his wife Jennifer who is the district’s Payroll Specialist.
“The administration that day managed to trick me twice,” Mortensen said. “First by asking if our superintendent could stop by to have a tire fixed, and then by calling a few minutes before the surprise party by calling down to see if I would send some students up for “disciplinary reasons”. I was so sad that these three great kids had gotten themselves into some kind of trouble. The next thing I know, here comes what felt like half of the school system. It was a shock, for sure.”
He shared that he is humbled by the fact that others in the Watauga community and the state feel his work is worth recognizing.
“I do what I do here for the students, I work with them to not only learn a great trade but also to help them clear a pathway to success by teaching them job skills they can use no matter what career path they take,” Mortensen said.
Following the big announcement, Jones enthusiastically welcomed Mortensen into the family of NC Teachers of the Year. She also shared some of the touching words shared by students involved in the nomination process.
“You teach students how to learn and you teach them ways to make things adaptable, that you meet them where they are,that you are motivational” Jones read aloud to Mortensen and all in attendance. “That he doesn’t let you have a bad day. He will make it his mission to make your day better.”
She added that students said they want to take his class because of who he is and that he makes everything a learning opportunity.
“I am honored to have been chosen for this position. It’s something I never considered possible, and yet here I am,” Mortensen said. “Thanks to all the teachers, administrators, and of course the students for helping make this happen. The best is yet to come.”
Strickler described the Dec. 1 recognition ceremony for Mortensen as “a celebration of all that he does for our community, our school, but most importantly for his students – all while a smiling as radiantly as he always does, while being awarded Northwestern Regional Teacher of the Year recognition, confirming everything those who have been in his classes already knew of his excellence in the classroom and beyond.”
After the grand surprise, a reception was held in the media center with a variety of Mortensen’s favorite sweet snacks, Little Debbie cakes.
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