Harrison County Schools is proud to share that Big Elm Elementary's Renee Powell has been named one of five finalists for the 2026 West Virginia Teacher of the Year.
In April, Mrs. Powell was named the 2025 Harrison County Schools Teacher of the Year. (article)
Powell teaches 4th grade at Big Elm Elementary School in Harrison County, where she has taught for 14 years. She is a team leader and a member of the school’s hiring committee. In 2010, Powell earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Education and her master’s in education, Reading Specialization, from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She achieved National Board Certification in 2019 and continued her professional learning in various areas to enhance her instructional practices. In 2022, Powell received a Partner Schools Grant from West Virginia University (WVU) for robotics cubelets and is currently working with a WVU grant committee to expand coding lessons and computational thinking in classrooms.
She was honored with the Young Alumni Distinguished Centurions award from her high school alma mater, Greensburg Central Catholic in Pennsylvania. Passionate about literacy and student engagement, Powell launched the Mystery Reader program at her school in 2019 to foster a love of reading. She is also committed to shaping education at a broader level as a member of the English Language Arts Standards Review Committee, which meets throughout the year to revise and improve statewide standards and curriculum.
The West Virginia Department of Education will name the 2026 Teacher of the Year at a ceremony in Charleston on September 9, 2025.
We are proud of Mrs. Powell and thankful for her hard work and dedication to her students.
Learn more about the Teacher of the Year program by visiting the West Virginia Teacher of the Year page.