Teachers of the Year climb different ladders to success

by

This year’s Vestavia Hills’ Teachers of the Year took different paths to get into the world of teaching.

Katie Smith, a fifth grade teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary East who was named the Elementary Teacher of the Year for the entire district, always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She grew up playing school at home as a kid and went directly into studying education as a profession.

But for Hannah Peterson, a sports medicine teacher at Vestavia Hills High School who was selected as Secondary Teacher of the Year among individual winners at the middle schools, freshman center and high school, there was a different dynamic.

Peterson initially thought she wanted to be a physical therapist, but then she took a health occupations class, found out about athletic training and fell in love with the idea of helping athletes on the sideline or court.

While she was at Troy University, she did an internship with the Columbus Cottonmouths hockey team and found herself working with a bunch of Canadians with different types of backgrounds.

Some were from big cities, but others were from the farm towns of Saskatchewan, and she had to communicate differently with the two groups to teach them about their bodies.

In the process, she learned something about herself. “I liked how it feels to break something down in a different way for somebody who has a different background,” she said.

It dawned on her that she might enjoy teaching, so, as a backup plan, she went back to school and got a master’s degree in teaching health and physical education.

She moved to Montgomery and got a job as an athletic trainer at Jefferson Davis High School, but in her second year there, the school’s health science teacher left, and the principal offered Peterson the job. “I was in a classroom the next week,” she said.

Then Vestavia Hills High School came calling. The school was looking for another athletic trainer and recruited Peterson, and she was hired to do that and teach physical education.

After a couple of years at Vestavia, she had an idea. Vestavia Hills had one sports medicine elective class, but she wanted to create a more expansive program for kids, giving them more hands-on training and exposing them to a variety of careers in the field.

The program began small and slowly. The first year, she had one course and three classes to teach, but now there are seven courses and three teachers teaching 175 students in nine classes. “It’s grown exponentially,” Peterson said.

She believes the school is doing a much better job of preparing students for future careers in medicine. Their seniors do a 12-week clinical internship where they get to work alongside professionals in a wide variety of fields — from surgeons to non-operative physicians, family practice doctors, physical therapists and occupational therapists, she said.

“How cool is it that they kind of get to figure out in high school really what they want to do instead of college where they’re spending thousands of dollars” to realize a career isn’t the right fit, she said.

Now, she has former students working in some of the same places where her current students go for clinical experiences.

“This has been my baby, my pet project — something that was hard for people to understand because we hadn’t had it yet,” she said. “I’m very proud of it.”

Peterson, often called “Coach P,” is known for her positive influence on Vestavia’s school culture, collaboration and engagement, Principal Blair Inabinet said.

“She is, quite simply, all in for her students, her program and our district,” Inabinet said. “Within the classroom, Ms. Peterson’s impact is transformative. She has exponentially grown our sports medicine program within the health sciences pathway, and this success is directly attributed to her excellence as an educator.

“She is a content expert who makes complex, technical material accessible and exciting,” Inabinet said. “Her students are drawn to her energy, humor and care, qualities that make her classroom a space where learning thrives and relationships matter. She embodies what it means to be both a servant leader and a lifelong learner, balancing high expectations with genuine warmth and encouragement.”

Peterson became Vestavia Hills High School’s head athletic trainer four years ago. She is also the advisor for the school’s Health Occupations Students of America Future Health Professionals club that focuses on leadership and community service and competes in medical competitions at the state and national level.

This past year, the club had four state champions, and three of Peterson’s students placed in the top 20 of their respective categories internationally.

Peterson also serves as a career tech team leader on the school’s Vision Team, a member of the school’s Appreciation of Culture and Diversity Cohort and a member of the school district’s strategic planning team (in both 2020 and 2025).

In her personal time, she loves hiking and going to concerts and comedy shows. “I love entertainment. I love fun. I love to laugh,” she said.

She’s very honored to be named the Secondary Teacher of the Year and just thrilled with her job, she said.

“I get to wake up every day and come to school and teach kids that are excited to learn what I am most passionate about,” she said. “I get to be with kids that are excited to be there — excited to learn — and build meaningful relationships and stretch them out of their comfort zone.”

ELEMENTARY TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Alabama and went on to get a master’s degree in instructional leadership from the University of West Alabama.

She spent her first 10 years teaching in Tuscaloosa, where she taught third, fourth and fifth grades at different times, and she is now in her fifth year at Vestavia Hills Elementary East, all in the fifth grade.

Her own fifth grade teacher, Helen Owens, played a special part in her life, she said.

“I felt very seen, cared for and heard in her classroom,” Smith said. “She made every day fun. That kind of inspired me, and now that’s what I try to do in my classroom. I love working with kids. I love that each day is different. I love being able to teach kids that learning new things and reading can be fun. I like them being able to realize their potential — that they can rise to any challenge. I like to set the bar high for them…It’s fun to watch the lightbulb go off in them that they’re capable of much more than they imagined.”

Cindy Echols, the principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary East, said Smith is a phenomenal teacher and person.

“She is so creative. She thinks outside the box. She makes learning extremely fun for her kids,” Echols said. “They’re motivated to please her because they like her so much — just the relationships she’s built with them. She’s consistent with her expectations and the procedure. She’s just an all-around great teacher.”

Smith is always interacting with her students, motivating them to be in charge of their learning, Echols said.

One of Smith’s big strengths is collaboration with her fifth grade team, Echols said. She’s good about sharing the good things she does with other teachers and letting them come into her classroom to observe, and she wants to learn from others herself, Echols said.

Smith was a Teacher of the Year at her school in Tuscaloosa and brought the same level of excellence to Vestavia Hills, Echols said.

Smith has led professional development sessions for other teachers, usually about student engagement and building relationships.

“It’s what I’m passionate about,” she said. “I don’t feel like any great learning happens until you build relationships. My No. 1 priority in here at the beginning of the year is to build relationships. I go to soccer games and football games and cheerleading.”

She starts each school day with a morning meeting in which students get to share something about themselves, such as their highs for the week or their upcoming weekend plans. Sometimes, Smith asks them silly questions related to odd holidays, and sometimes they play team-building games to teach them how to solve problems and work together in a fun way, before they get into the educational content of the day.

“She’s very influential, and people really look up to her and come to her to see the great things she’s doing,” Echols said. “Parents love her. They absolutely love her. She’s just top notch. … We’re proud to have her.”

Smith also was instrumental in helping Vestavia Hills Elementary East start its house system. Students are divided into five “house” groups, each based on a particular positive character trait.

“The goal is just to build community throughout the school,” Smith said. “We have different assemblies and house family meetings. It’s all about character education and helping kids feel included and seen and heard at school.”

Smith is also on her school’s Hope Institute Committee, which also focuses on character, and a schoolwide Design Team, which is a leadership team that includes a teacher from each grade in the school.

“My goal as an educator is just to show teachers that making learning fun doesn’t have to be difficult and that the days go by faster and the years are smoother if you build those relationships and you have a lot of fun with the kids,” she said. “I would just encourage them to look for ways to make their learning engaging so that the kids are excited to be there every day.”

Smith said she regularly collaborates with her fifth grade team, planning cross-curricular projects and lessons. “We have a great team.”

In her personal life, she likes to go to the gym, travel when she can and hang out with family members.

Smith said she was very surprised to be named Elementary Teacher of the Year, not only at the district level, but even at her school.

“I’ve only been here for five years,” she said. “There are so many great teachers here. I’m surrounded by excellence every day.”