Doolan Named Carroll County Teacher of the Year

Laura Doolan, an English teacher at Westminster High School, was named Carroll County 2013 Teacher of the Year during the Board of Education’s employee recognition ceremony Thursday evening.

According to Janetta Jayman, Supervisor of English and World Languages, “Ms. Doolan is a champion of students, working tirelessly beyond expectations to nurture students’ academic growth and social well-being. Her belief in creating successful learning experiences for all students has been the foundation for her own successful teaching career.”

Doolan began her teaching career as a home and substitute teacher for the Carroll County Public School System in 1992. From August 1992 until 2004, she taught in the Charlottesville City School System. In 2004, Doolan began teaching at Westminster High School where she has taught courses in grades 9 through 12 at all academic levels. In 2010, she became the English Department Chairperson.

While at Westminster High School, Doolan’s activities have included serving as the yearbook sponsor, class sponsor, Stand Up! founder and sponsor, School Improvement Team member, Chair of the Multicultural Committee, and graduation coordinator. At the county level, she has taken a leadership role in writing curriculum and has led countywide professional development on the new curriculum. Her professional associations include the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and the National Council for Teachers of English. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher.

She has been honored on two previous occasions by the Chamber of Commerce as an Outstanding Teacher Awards nominee and was an Education That is Multicultural Teacher Liaison of the Year. While in Charlottesville City Schools, she was recognized for being the High School Employee of the Year as well as the Walmart Central Virginia Teacher of the Year.

Doolan, who comes from a family of educators, considers the teaching profession her calling. She credits her love of learning for driving the instructional activities in her classroom each day. Doolan feels that her passion to make her students more successful inspires her work with colleagues as they work to increase the rigor of the curricula and the expectations of themselves and their students. 

The Carroll County Teacher of the Year Award is presented annually to an individual who represents Carroll County teachers in the Maryland Teacher of the Year Program, and possibly the National Teacher of the Year Program. Working in collaboration with the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, this year’s finalists for Teacher of the Year were selected by the Chamber of Commerce as winners of the Chamber’s Outstanding Teacher Awards.

Information in this article taken from a Carroll County Public Schools news release.