The Shadow
Marlene Chapman, a teacher at Mountain View Elementary School, has been honored by the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Tourism for being named its Educator of the Year for Alleghany County Schools.
Chapman and other county school nominees for the award were honored by the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism during its annual dinner meeting at The Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs on March 7.
The other nominees for Alleghany County Schools were: Heather Eggleston (Clifton Middle School), Mallory Nicely (Alleghany High School), Lia Fisher-Janosz (Sharon Elementary School) and Jessi Turner (Callaghan Elementary School).
Marlene Chapman has been a teacher in the Alleghany Highlands for 45 years.
After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in Suffolk, she earned a bachelor of science degree in elementary education from St. Paul’s College in Lawrenceville. She graduated from college in 1973.
Chapman teaches fifth grade language arts and Virginia studies at Mountain View Elementary School. She has vast experiencing in elementary education, having taught all subjects in grades one through five. She has also taught seventh grade English.
Chapman is part of a group that develops study guides for the Virginia Studies Standards of Learning assessment.
Her coaching career has also involved a wide spectrum of sports. Chapman has coached youth league sports, as well as high school sports at Clifton Forge and Alleghany High School.
Chapman has devoted countless hours to coaching basketball, soccer, cheerleading and track. In 2006 she was named the Blue Ridge District Coach of the Year for girls soccer. In 2004, she reached the 200-win mark in her career as a girls basketball coach
Chapman was featured in the county school division magazine in 2005, and in 2018, she was named an A-Plus Teacher by television station WFXR in Roanoke. Chapman has also been featured in “Growing Up in the Valley” magazine.
She is also very active in the Clifton Forge community. Chapman helped organize TAP in Clifton Forge in the early 1970s. More recently, she has volunteered her time with a summer feeding program to ensure that children receive a nutritious meal when school is not in session.
Chapman is an usher and a deaconess at Main Street Missionary Baptist Church.
She was married to Joseph B. Chapman for almost 30 years. They had one daughter, NaTasha Nicole. She is married to Jonathan Benjamin of North Carolina. Chapman is looking forward to becoming a grandmother in June.
Heather Eggleston, a 1995 graduate of Alleghany High School, teaches sixth-grade math at Clifton Middle School.
In 2009, she received a bachelor’s degree from Mary Baldwin College, majoring in sociology and a minoring in education.
Eggleston is endorsed in pre-kindergarten to sixth grade Before joining the staff at CMS, she taught first and third grades at Mountain View Elementary.
She is very involved in activities at Mountain View and in the Highlands community.
Eggleston is co-chair of the Mountain View SCA and she serves as a data analyst for the positive behavior intervention systems team. In the past, she served on the leadership team, peer helpers for the Independent Reading Level Assessment, the SOL pep rally committee, the accelerated reader committee, school improvement team and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Committee.
In the community, she also assists the American Cancer Society. She has also served as a recreation league soccer coach.
Eggleston is a member of the Virginia Professional Educators Association.
Mallory Nicely teaches social studies at AHS.
She graduated from AHS in 2004 and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from Radford University in 2008. In 2011, she earned a master’s degree of teaching in special education from Mary Baldwin. In 2016, she earned a second master’s degree in history from Liberty University.
Nicely worked as a teacher assistant for three years in Alleghany County before taking a teaching position with Botetourt County. After returning to Alleghany County, she taught special education.
Nicely is also very active outside of the classroom. She serves as senior class sponsor at AHS and as a team leader of the social studies department.
She teaches summer school, homebound instruction, tutors students, and works after hours at the Turning Point Alternative Education School.
Nicely is an active member of the Elk’s Club, the Christmas Mother program, and the Alleghany Humane Society.
She is a member of the American Education Association and the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education.
Lia Fisher-Janosz is a librarian and technology resource teacher at Sharon Elementary School.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the State University of New York-Purchase College and a master’s degree in elementary education from New York University. Fisher-Janosz is working toward a master’s degree in school librarianship at Longwood University.
She taught in Tennessee and New Jersey before joining Alleghany County schools in June 2018.
She has served as a director of the forensics team, the drama club, the book club and the yearbook club, while also devoting her time to multiple textbook committees. Fisher-Janosz is the current director of the school drama club and she oversees production of the yearbook. She is a member of the technology committee, PTO secretary and co-director of the Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics Program.
She is a member of the Virginia Association of School Librarians and the Shakespeare Association of America.
Jessi Turner is a junior kindergarten teacher at Callaghan Elementary.
She graduated from AHS in 2005 and attended Liberty University and Dabney S. Lancaster Community College before graduating with honors from Radford University in 2009. Turner holds a degree in interdisciplinary studies, with a major in elementary education.
She is endorsed to teach pre-kindergarten through sixth grade; mathematics in grades 6 through 8 and Algebra I.
Turner began her teaching career at Mountain View Elementary School. She was at the elementary school for one year before transferring to CMS, where she taught for seven years. She later transferred from CMS to Callaghan.
She has served as a teacher liaison to the PTO at Callaghan. At Clifton Middle School she served as the SCA Club 6th grade sponsor, Students for Christ Club sponsor and tennis club sponsor. She has also served on a recycling committee and as a dance chaperone and scoreboard keeper.
Turner is a member of the Virginia Professional Educators’ Association.
In the community, Turner is active in her church and she assists with the pre-school craft committee at Jackson River Technical Center.
