Students and staff rallied behind English teacher Mrs. Fey as Senator Donna Campbell awarded her the Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award on Oct. 22. Humanities Texas selected Fey as one of nine teachers in this category.

“There’s a lot of great teachers out there and any time we are recognized it’s always a surprise, because [teaching] is not usually a field in which you get recognized,” Fey said. “I feel very grateful.”

This was the first large gathering in the new building, marking a transition from hallway celebrations to, hopefully, hosting more official events like Fey’s ceremony, principal Mrs. Wiley said. Allowing students from all grade levels to come together to better watch and hear the event showed the benefits of a larger space, she added.

“In one way or another, other than our few new juniors or seniors, every single one of those students in the room had Mrs. Fey,” Wiley said. “I think it’s really a cool thing they all got to take part in it because she’s really been able to impact their education.”

Still, especially at a STEM-dominated campus, Fey said the Humanities as a discipline can be easily overshadowed, making this award all the more meaningful. 

“I think it’s really great that there is an organization like the National Endowment for the Humanities through Texas Humanities that recognizes a discipline as still important when the rest of society may not see it as important,” Fey said. 

Her teaching partner Mr. Kelley nominated her initially, Fey said. He brought the organization to her and the school’s attention a few years ago, opening the pair up to new resources. 

“We’ve actually nominated both Mr. Kelley and Mrs. Fey for the past two years, and so it was really exciting that Mrs. Fey was able to win the award,” Wiley said. “Mr. Kelley was actually an honorary award winner so he was kind of that next level, which is cool that they were both honored since they make a great team.”