Teacher of the Year Finalist Plays Waiting Game

It's not easy being a finalist for N.H. Teacher of the Year, especially when you consider the arduous process begins with nominations in February and a winner isn't announced until September.

But Windham High School English teacher Ryan O'Connor says that he understands the honor of being nominated, and the further honor of become a finalist for the 2013 title.

O'Connor deferred much of his success to WHS Principal Tom Murphy's vision for the school and for his faculty.

"(Tom Murphy) stands by his faculty," O'Connor said. "He always says he would put this faculty up against any faculty he has ever come across."

O'Connor is vying for the district's second straight Teacher of the Year state award winner, after WHS Biology teacher Bethany Bernasconi captured the 2012 honor.

During that selection process, Bernasconi said that she had to complete several essays and give an oral presentation, something that O'Connor just finished up with this week.

He said that the essays ranged in content from the philosophy of education to current issues of education.

His oral presentation was allowed to be anything of his choosing, and he went with the topic of "maintaining rigor in the classroom and the importance of drawing out a student's success."

It's something that O'Connor has been doing since his time working at Londonderry High School, long before WHS was even constructed.

There, he built bonds that he said made the decision to switch schools a "tough one," but maintained that the move was a unique experience as he is originally from Windham.

"It was a chance to go back to my hometown, give back to it," O'Connor said. "I think from the beginning that first year to where we are now, it's been a lot of work, a lot of hard work, and a lot of people are giving to it. But something special is going on."

O'Connor said that his former colleagues in Londonderry are all happy for his accomplishment, but they all recognize that he is not one to seek attention.

His students, especially the closest ones, have also taken the time to congratulate him.

Now O'Connor plays the waiting game, as he will wait for his application to be reviewed before the fall announcement.

O'Connor also serves as the varsity track coach at WHS. His brother, Rory O'Connor, recently made the leap from Windham teacher to administrator as he took a