CCSD staff members surprised Springfield Elementary School teacher Spencer Quinlan today with the announcement that she had been chosen as the 2023 CCSD Teacher of the Year.
Lexy Marianiello of Burke High School was named runner-up.
Quinlan is a second-grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School where she has taught for 11 years. It has brought her a tremendous amount of joy to work with a team of colleagues that she considers family.
“We are so proud of Spencer for this outstanding honor and recognition,” said Principal Megan Williams. “She is an integral part of our Mustang family and is reliable, patient, and hard-working. She shows up for work each and every day and gives 100 percent to her students and fellow staff members. Her work ethic and belief that all students can be successful are evident in her attitude each and every day. We are so fortunate to have Spencer Quinlan as a part of our Springfield staff.”
Quinlan received her Early Childhood Education degree from the University of South Carolina. She is a past member of the Palmetto State Teachers Association and the 2014 Rookie Teacher of the Year at Springfield. She is currently the grade level chair for second grade and a PBIS team member. Quinlan will host College of Charleston interns for the practicum experience this year just as she did in 2017.
Quinlan hopes to use the Teacher of the Year platform to connect families with community resources to meet basic needs.
“We have to fight for our kids,” said Quinlan. “As Teacher of the Year, I will use this platform to continue to communicate with families and work hard to build a bridge of trust and respect between home and school.”
Quinlan hopes to build an ecosystem around supporting students by donating alarm clocks to combat absenteeism and hopes to host tutoring or homework nights at schools across the district and provide free community resources as needed. The school’s parent advocate is an amazing resource, Quinlan explained
and she wants to help further her efforts.
“There are so many problems that our children are dealing with or are exposed to that we can’t see on the surface,” said Quinlan. “We have to get families and students to confide in us their vulnerabilities so that we can help them. I know I speak for my colleagues when I say we come from a place of wanting to help, never a place of judgment.”
Marianiello
Lexy Marianiello, a Burke High School social studies teacher, is in her sixth year as an educator. Marianiello graduated from Clemson University, earned a master’s degree from Binghamton University, and is currently enrolled in The Citadel. She serves on the AVID Site Team at Burke.
