The Roanoker May/June 2022 - 100

Best of 2022 * the winners
Quiana Fields
English Teacher, James Breckinridge Middle
School (Roanoke City Public Schools)
Platinum Winner, Best Educator
panels, mentors new teachers and is currently
in a cohort with other city teachers
through a partnership between the
school system and Radford University to
become a Literacy Specialist.
She adores being able to interact with
her students. As a teacher, it's her duty to
do what is best for each student, and she
understands that looks different for everyone.
" I love supporting them in the classroom
and during their extracurriculars; I
love learning from them; I love helping
them understand content while cultivating
a desire for them to be lifelong readers
and learners; and I love when they
see the connection between what they
are learning and their lives. "
Being a teacher, of course, does not
A Work of Heart
Educator Quiana Fields loves her job - and the challenges and rewards that come with it.
T
100 MAY/JUNE 2022
his year's platinum win for
Best Local Educator goes to
Quiana Fields, English teacher
at James Breckinridge
Middle School, Roanoke
City Public Schools. Fields is absolutely
honored for the recognition. " It is a great
recognition of the work that teachers do
every day. Furthermore, I am thankful and
ecstatic to know that the readers from my
community voted for me. Teaching is a
work of heart, and I am proud to share my
heart in the classroom daily along with an
amazing eighth-grade team of teachers
and administrators at James Breckinridge
Middle School in Roanoke City.
Fields has been teaching middle
school English, writing and literature in
Roanoke City Public Schools since 2007.
In 2017, she became the first person in
the United States to become a SIM Specialist
in the Proficiency in Sentence Writing
Strategy, sustaining and growing her
students' writing skills. Fields has " had
the joy " of being the English department
chair in her building, serves on several
come without its exceptional challenges;
while Fields knows they are inevitable,
she refuses to be defeated, as that is simply
" not an option in teaching! " Because
every day in a school setting is different,
Fields has learned to be flexible and pivot
when things appear to be going in a direction
unlike the one she expected or
planned for. " Building and maintaining
relationships are so important and help
to make the challenges less difficult. It is
an opportunity for students, teachers and
support staff to rise and feel the exhilaration
of victory on the other end, student
growth and success.
The award-winning teacher describes
the city of Roanoke " like a glass of sweet
tea and lemonade - the perfect blend of
rural and cosmopolitan life. " Here, Fields
is able to continue the legacy of strong
women who came before her. She has
opportunities for career growth, can see
exhibits at some of the best museums in
the world, dine at featured restaurants
and explore the mountains and nearby
greenways, lakes and rivers. " I love living
and working in the Star City of the South.
As a Roanoke native, I have been blessed
to teach where I was once a student and
learn from and collaborate with several
of my former teachers. " -LL
TheRoanoker.com
TAYLOR RESCHKA
http://www.TheRoanoker.com
The Roanoker May/June 2022

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