Jaclyn McVea: Parker Cook
Jaclyn McVea has been a math teacher at Princess Anne High School for eight years. This school year, she teaches IBMYP Algebra II Trig and Algebra II Trig, but previously, she taught Algebra I. McVea also serves as assistant coach to PA’s Varsity Swim team.
“I went to Old Dominion University with a major in applied mathematics, a minor in special education, and a focus in secondary education,” McVea explained. After she graduated from ODU, she got a job at PA and has taught here ever since. At ODU, McVea played Division 1 soccer and later coached youth soccer at Beach FC.
She explained that she had always wanted to be a teacher when she was older. “It is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I love the schedule, interactions with students, and the holiday breaks,” McVea commented. She enjoys the connections that she makes with her students each year and seeing them grow and change throughout the year in numerous ways.
McVea explained how she wanted an opportunity to teach some of the IB Academy classes at PA. She adds that this was one of the many aspects that attracted her to PA.
McVea shared some of her special hobbies or interests and said, “I love everything about or relating to social media.” Along with her job and her many commitments outside of school hours, she runs social media accounts on TikTok and on Instagram that focus on health and wellness and creates relatable parenting and teaching videos.” Outside of school, McVea enjoys hanging out with her two children. She shares that she likes to take them to the trampoline park and the beach often.
Tyler Thornes takes on new role as administrative assistant: Alivia Wallace
After years of teaching English 12 and English Middle Years Program (MYP) 10, Tyler Thornes has stepped into a new position at PA as an administrative assistant. This position allows him to learn the responsibilities of school leadership before moving up in his career.
His new role requires him to handle a wide variety of administrative duties, similar to those of an assistant principal. “I’m doing everything that an Assistant Principal does,” he explained. “That includes transportation, working with students whose last names are L through Q, coordinating with substitutes, and overseeing departments like ROTC, Health and PE, and Social Studies.”
The shift from classroom teaching to administration has brought new challenges. “It’s much more of a managerial role now,” Thornes said. He explained how he now manages more directorial tasks for students, rather than helping them with assignments he creates as their teacher. “It’s definitely different because I’m overseeing more students, but in a less one-on-one environment,” he noted.
Thornes’s experience as a teacher continues to help him adjust to the new position. His background in the classroom provides him with insight into student needs and classroom dynamics. He believes his new role will allow him to make a difference and apply his understanding and experiences to his new job.
Since he is taking on many new responsibilities, Thornes describes how he is “taking it a day at a time” and pacing himself as he adjusts to the new job. “Each day, I’m figuring out what it should look like and how to make things run smoothly.”
As Thornes continues to grow in his new role, he remains focused on learning and adapting. “I’m still figuring things out,” he claimed, “but that’s part of the process.”
Math Teacher Joseph Smith celebrates 25 years of teaching: Joe Sawko
This year marks Joseph Smith’s 25th year teaching and his 31st year working at PA. Smith teaches math and is the boys’ and girls’ swim coach. He started coaching swim at PA in 1995 while he was working for an engineering firm. He taught at Ocean Lakes in 2001, but transferred to Princess Anne in 2002 and has been here ever since. In addition, he has also been the PA Young Republicans sponsor since 2012.
Smith currently teaches a variety of math classes, including elective math, Probability & Statistics, Discrete Math, and Trigonometry. He has also taught Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, and Computer Programming in the past.
Smith realized his love for teaching after coaching swimming. “I really loved coaching High School Swimming and was thinking Civil Engineering was not something I wanted to pursue, so I switched over to teaching,” Smith added that he thinks teaching math can be fun. “I like to use real-world examples to help show how math can be part of a student’s life.”
Smith has coached boys and girls Swim & Dive teams since it became a varsity sport for Virginia Beach. They have numerous District and Regional Championships for both boys and girls, along with two state trophies and two runner-up state trophies for the boys (2014-2017).
Smith has had a love for swimming ever since he was little. “My mother was a swim coach, and I swam for her for a long time. I swam most of my life, growing up in Hawaii and then Northern Virginia.” He didn’t swim in college but began coaching in 1990 for Summer Leagues and USA Teams. Smith loves the sport and teaching correct technique, and especially enjoys helping an athlete set goals and achieve them.
Smith aims to reach 30 years of teaching before he retires, but he says he would still like to keep substituting after he does. Smith says, “I will miss the students and their different personalities, especially the ones that understand my humor.” Smith hopes that he has made a positive impact on the school and students during his career.
Helping the Next Generation of Teachers – Autumn Guild: Alex Adams
Autumn Guild is in her fifth year of teaching ninth-grade English at Princess Anne. Guild grew up in the Virginia Beach area, attending PA and participating in the IB program for two years. After her sophomore year at PA, she transferred out and spent her remaining two years of high school at Kellam High School.
Following her years at Kellam, Guild attended James Madison University, earning two degrees, remarking, “My undergraduate degree was a bachelor’s in English, and I graduated in 2020, then I stayed and got a master’s in Education in 2021.”
Throughout Guild’s five years at PA, she has been involved in multiple clubs, organizations, and classes, including the Slam Poetry Club, Young Life, and most significantly, Virginia Teachers For Tomorrow, also known as VTFT.
Looking back at her involvement, Guild says, “I was a slam poetry club sponsor for two years, and then when the club started to dwindle, I started to get more involved with Young Life and Virginia Teachers For Tomorrow.”
VTFT is a class taught and hosted by the Guild and assisted by other staff members at PA. This includes Ms. Foster and Dr. Walck, who taught VTFT in the years prior to Guild taking it over. They help students prepare for everyday life in the classroom by guiding them on how to work with children younger than them, how to interact properly with children in a classroom setting, and writing literacy pieces to better their understanding of teaching topics, explained Guild.
The class meets on A days during fourth block, and many members are involved in internships at local Elementary schools around Virginia, such as Arrowhead Elementary, Cook Elementary, and William Elementary School. You have to be a junior or senior to take part in VTFT.
Guild was involved in VTFT in high school herself. “When I transferred to Kellam High School for my junior year, I took VTFT one, then in my senior year I took VTFT two,” noted Guild. Guild credits the VTFT program for helping her earn her job at PA.
