EASLEY – Each year, the Easley High School faculty votes for one teacher to be name Teacher of the Year, and this year’s winner is Kay Hiott.

Hiott celebrated 30 years in the teaching profession in January after beginning her teaching career at Easley Junior High (now Getty’s Middle) in 1980. She taught there for 18 years until the ninth grade was moved to EHS.

Since, Hiott has been at EHS for 12 years where she teaches Honors English, Language Arts Strategies and Teacher Cadets.

Hiott begins each English class each day by saying “What a lovely day for English” because she said she believes the statement sets the tone for the day and prepares the students for a positive experience. It also reminds her of how fortunate she is to be in the classroom each day, she said.

“I love teaching ninth graders because they are honest, energetic, fun, intelligent and eager to learn,” Hiott said. “I also enjoy preparing students for the teaching profession in my Teacher Cadet class. It is a joy to see how previous ninth graders have blossomed and grown into such talented young men and women who are ready to make a difference in the lives of future students.”

Hiott said she has had a lot of memorable experience while working at EHS, but some of her favorites are – teaching her daughter when she was in the ninth grade, teaching the children of former students, teaching side-by-side with former students, observing former Teacher Cadets in their own classrooms and receiving the Golden Apple Award in 1998.

“I am honored to be selected by my peers to represent them as Teacher of the Year,” she said. “It is nice to feel appreciated for something I love to do. Teaching is my calling, not my job.”

Hiott got her Bachelors of Arts from Newberry College and her Masters of Arts from Furman University. She is also the sponsor of the Interact Club, a service club at EHS sponsored by the Rotary Club of Easley and the Future Educators Association.

Hiott’s husband, Tim, is a graphics communication teacher at the B.J. Skelton Career Center and she has one daughter, Katy, who is a junior at EHS.

Hiott attends Easley First Baptist Church and serves on the Pickens County March for Babies Team.