It’s been two weeks since Cory Hafer was named Delaware's 2024 Teacher of the Year, and since then, he’s been back in his classroom teaching high school engineering students.
But his photo being plastered around Middletown High isn’t the only change since the announcement. Hafer is prepping for upcoming conferences and meetings with educators across the country.
“This whole year is going to be a really cool opportunity for growth. I’m going to get to go to the White House and Washington for a week it seems like and some sort of conference. There’s a conference out in California that we get to go to, so I’m going to be able to network with a lot of different educators, hear a lot of cool ideas and so I’m very excited about the opportunities that that brings," he said.
He also looks forward to talking about the national teacher shortage and teacher burnout with other educators.
“The support of administration in this building has made it so that I don’t want to quit. There have been times throughout the 11 years that I’ve definitely thought about it – thought about quitting the profession. But, I think it’s important as an educator to realize that we have only so much we can do in a given day," he said.
He plans to use his role to remind future and current educators how rewarding teaching can be, and the importance of putting their own mental health first.
Hafer submitted his application for National Teacher of the Year last week and will find out if he’s one of the four finalists in December of this year.
