This past March, Bellaire’s Lucy Seward, an English teacher, received the Excellence in Teaching award from the College of Wooster, a liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. 2011 Bellaire graduate Caroline Bybee nominated Seward for the award, which recognizes teachers that have had a significant impact on a student’s life.

Because she decided to be Seward’s teaching assistant (TA), Bybee spent two years in Seward’s classroom. Her experiences were overwhelmingly positive, leading her to nominate her teacher for the award.

“I decided to nominate Ms. Seward because when I was in her class my junior year, I really loved it,” Bybee said. “I loved both the subject matter and the way that Ms. Seward taught. I also served as her TA my senior year; I felt that she had a pretty profound effect on my high school career and decided that I should reflect that by nominating her.”

For the nomination process, Bybee had to write an essay about Seward, and the awards committee chose Seward and four other teachers as recipients based on these essays. Wooster flew Seward to Ohio, where she was able to learn more about the campus.

“I got to attend a dinner, hear a speech, took a campus tour, sat in on an English class, and they gave us a plaque and a trophy,” Seward said.

Seward has only positive things to say about the student that nominated her for the award, noting that Bybee was “superlative.”

“She couldn’t have been more helpful and more insightful,” Seward said. “She worked hard, kids loved her, she was a great role model, and she composed a lot of the handouts I used that year.”

Seward also thinks highly of Wooster and is appreciative of the award.

“It was quite an honor [to receive the award],” Seward said. “Wooster is a wonderful place and of course, Bybee is an amazing student. I was very grateful and humbled.”