Mike Wolanin | The Republic CSA New Tech’s Veronica Buckler is the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation’s Teacher of the Year. She is pictured at CSA New Tech in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.
In her own words, CSA New Tech facilitator Veronica Buckler describes herself as being “a huge fan of learning.”
And yet, despite that passion, she initially resisted the idea of going into education. It seemed like an “obvious job” and one of the only few she knew of in her small hometown.
However, Buckler eventually embraced her love of learning — so much so that she’s been named the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s 2022 Teacher of the Year.
She will be honored at an upcoming BCSC school board meeting and represent the school corporation as its nominee for Indiana State Teacher of the Year.
This school year marks Buckler’s ninth year as a teacher and her seventh year at CSA New Tech, where she is a facilitator for English and social studies courses.
She initially held back working in education because, “I thought it was just too obvious, and I wanted to see what else was out there. I wanted to see what kind of different, exciting things I could do as my career.”
Buckler chose to major in philosophy instead. After graduating, she wasn’t sure what to do. Her mother, who was an in-school suspension instructor at the middle school Buckler had once attended, mentioned that the school was always in need of substitute teachers.
“I was basically there every day, in some capacity or another,” said Buckler. “And I found out that this is exactly what I love to do. I love getting to talk about interesting information. I love getting to have a student understand what they’re being taught, and I think I also really love sparking that curiosity and care for the world around us.”
After earning her master’s in education, Buckler taught seventh grade English in Switzerland County for two years. Then she and her partner moved to Columbus. Buckler decided to apply to work at CSA New Tech, despite not knowing much about the school.
“It ended up being just the most amazing and perfect thing to happen to me, because this school has become my entire life,” she said.
While Buckler initially had misgivings about working in education, she’s come to realize that being a teacher is “so many careers in one.” For instance, a teacher may act as a counselor, project manager or gardener.
Joining CSA New Tech also made her realize that Project-Based Learning (PBL) allows teachers and students to explore all kinds of jobs and presents “endless possibilities for what I get to do through education.”
“Interacting with students through the projects is always amazing because I can bring them an idea for what we’re going to work on, and then all of the sudden they take it on and they turn it into something I can never even imagine,” said Buckler. “And you can see their passion and their excitement and see their learning happening in the moment, and that’s always really cool.”
When asked what the most challenging part of her job is, Buckler replied that students sometimes have a hard time focusing on academics because of there are “so many other things going on in their lives.” She cannot control these things; all she can do is meet students where they are and do her best to help them move forward. Still, she said it is “frustrating” and “heartbreaking” to know there are areas of their lives where she can’t help.
“I think, as an educator, you are always looking at what you could do better, right?” said Buckler. “And you’re always — reflection is part of being an educator, and so you’re always thinking about ‘Well, that didn’t work,’ and ‘I could do this better,’ and ‘We could do this next year.’ And so I’m constantly telling myself I could do better. So to be told that I’m doing well feels foreign to me. And it’s great to kind of have a moment for me to stop myself and say, ‘No, you are doing a good job.’”
Being teacher of the year is “surreal,” she said. She added that it’s really a testament to CSA New Tech.
“I think I am who I am, as an educator, because of this building and because of the people I work with and because of the students,” she said.
