Insights & Information

Triad's 2015 Teacher of the Year: 'Every day is different'

Veigh Jarvis with her preschool class

2015 Teacher of the Year Veigh Jarvis with her Pre-K class at Triad Baptist Christian Preschool.

Houses built to last require strong foundations and Triad Baptist Christian Preschool’s director says 2015 Teacher of the Year Veigh Jarvis is educationally building just that in her Pre-K students.

Each year, Triad Baptist Christian Academy and Preschool select a Teacher of the Year, and Preschool Director Laura Harris says Jarvis’s selection as the latest winner underscores the critical importance of a good start to lifelong learning.

“Veigh is a wonderful Pre-K teacher,” Harris says, “Her students not only know the basic colors, shapes, and numbers, but can read. They know how to blend sounds and use the phonics she has taught them.”

Jarvis said she was surprised and happy to learn about her Teacher of the Year honor.

“I love working with the kids and enjoy seeing them learn,” she says. “When I was in school, I didn’t get phonics which is so important to learning to read. I love seeing how fast they can catch on. For the children that go on to public school, they usually are far ahead of their classmates.

“Every day is different, and this is the kind of job where you can see the results at the end. Many of my former students or their parents will contact me years later and talk about how well they’re doing, and how the education we provided even as early as preschool was a part of their success.”

Jarvis began her preschool teaching career about 19 year ago at a church-run preschool in Winston-Salem when her son, Keith, was 3 so she could be at home with him in the afternoons.

Veigh Jarvis with her preschool class

Jarvis.

She joined Triad’s staff in 2005 after learning about a job opening from one of her daughters. When she first began working, she brought her grandson Christian Young, now 11, to school there, too. Jarvis commutes to Triad each day from her home in Midway.

Lead Pastor Rob Decker says selfless servants like Jarvis are why the church’s educational ministry continues to impact young lives.

“ Every time I see Veigh out on the playground or walking the halls with her students, her love and care for her students shines through,” Decker says. “The success of our program would not be what it is without the kind of faithful ministry and commitment she represents.”

Along with teaching writing and reading and other foundational educational concepts, Jarvis says another key benefit of working at Triad is the ability to share her faith and teach a curriculum where the Christian worldview is incorporated throughout.

“We learn the books of the Bible, and I’m amazed every year how fast they can catch on,” Jarvis says. “As a kid, I know I didn’t know the books of the Bible but they can quote all 66 and verses.”

Harris says Jarvis’s love for her students and commitment is evident not just in her classroom results but in her interest in students long after they leave Triad.

“Once the children go on to kindergarten, she always checks up on them after a few months to make sure each are doing well,” Harris says. “Veigh is spot-on when it comes to teaching and leading children towards Christ.”

Phase 2 Shot of TBC B&W 17

Join us Sunday at

9:00am Traditional Worship
10:30am Contemporary Worship