Scott Callaghan was presented with the 2025 ‘Teacher of the Year’ award during the Fine Arts assembly on May 2.
Callaghan has been teaching various English subjects, such as Honors English II, Academic English II, and more, for 34 years at Wadsworth High School. However, this will be his last year of teaching at Wadsworth High School, as he will be retiring.
After Callaghan had received the award, he embraced his family and responded to the crowd with the words, “Thank you.”
“It’s very humbling,” Callaghan said. “I teach with amazing colleagues, and I’m certainly not more worthy of recognition than anyone else at Wadsworth High School. But I’m honored to receive the award on behalf of the staff.”
The award is given out to teachers who go above and beyond their scope as teachers. Some of the previous teachers who have won this award are the following: Samuel Piehl, 2024, band instructor; Chad Bever, 2023, English teacher; and Mrs. Smith, 2022, English teacher.
Students cast their votes every year to elect a teacher of the year. This year, the voting began when Dr. Vincent Suber sent out an email for students to fill out on April 6. Students were to respond with their belief of who deserved to be the teacher of the year, and write a brief explanation of why.
“Mr. Callaghan inspires me to become a better student and an overall better person,” said Sebastian Byrd, a sophomore in Mr. Callaghan’s Honors English II class.
One student who responded to the form for the teacher of the year said that Callaghan is always energetic, connects with students, and is active when teaching. Another student said that not only does Callaghan care about students’ academic success, but also the students’ overall well-being.
Callaghan tries to enter the room with the right attitude and the right amount of effort every day. He has taken pride in showing up to school each day and never giving in to the monotony that being a teacher can produce.
“One of the things I try to teach my students is that the more you love something, the more it loves you back,” Callaghan said.
As Callaghan approaches his retirement from Wadsworth High School, he plans to find something very challenging to focus his effort on and have a positive influence on as many people as he possibly can.
