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Special to the Daily Journal/Messenger

State Teacher of the Year Jenna Hallman, right, is pictured with Jason Fulmer, program director for the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA). Hallman recently visited Walhalla Middle School to meet with first-year teachers. She said she has already put 18,000 miles on the BMW she received for traveling throughout South Carolina as the state’s top teacher.

WALHALLA — Jenna Hallman, the current South Carolina Teacher of the Year, was a law student at the University of South Carolina Upstate when the realization came that she wasn’t meant for that profession.

“I was working at a day care center part time, and working with children showed me that was what I was meant to do,” Hallman said. “I knew that all along, but everyone was pushing me into law.”

As a result, Hallman changed her major and earned an undergraduate degree at USC-Upstate. She ultimately received a master’s in administration from Clemson University.

But that doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing. Though passionate about her career, Hallman, who spent two years as a teacher in Spartanburg County and the past seven at Calhoun Academy of the Arts in Anderson School District Five, described her first year in the classroom as “very difficult.”

“I was trying to understand the standards, PACT (Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test) and stories that were floating around on what would happen (to teachers) if kids didn’t do well,” she said. “Halfway through I thought I would never teach again.”

But that is when Hallman, who recently visited first-year Oconee County educators at Walhalla Middle School, said a veteran teacher stepped in.

“She took me under her wing, let me borrow things, worked with me on my lesson plans and helped me in many ways,” she said. “Though our college programs are doing a better job of helping teachers prepare for the standards, it’s also the classroom discipline and all the little pieces that new teachers have to face that makes the adjustment so hard.”

Named as the state’s top teacher last April 2008, Hallman began her yearlong leave of absence from the classroom in July. She has hit the ground running, putting 18,000 miles on the BMW received for winning the award and being away from family two to three nights per week during an eight-week stretch prior to Christmas.

But Hallman said she feels the sacrifices are worth the opportunities to encourage fellow teachers, particularly first-year teachers and teacher-cadets.

“I spend a lot of time with teacher cadets, which works with our high school seniors to give them a taste of teaching and to give them college credit,” Hallman said. “They question me on why I became a teacher and why I stay in the profession. That’s the two biggest issues with them.”

Hallman said she not only would like to see teachers receive mentoring during their first year in the classroom but also for it to continue into the second year.

“That’s something I’m working for,” she said. “They should have a mentor by their side in their second year.”

Hallman offered some advice to aspiring young teachers. She said they should “take as many courses as they can” in college, even though they may feel some of those courses provide no benefit.

“Take some special education courses even if you don’t plan on entering that field because we are all special education teachers, psychology teachers and the like,” Hallman said.

Though she clearly enjoys the teaching profession, budget cuts already passed down from the state to school districts, with more expected to follow in the coming months, are a concern for Hallman.

“We knew when Act 388 was passed that there was no way the one-cent sales tax was going to fund education,” she said. “I’m concerned we’re going to cut programs that allow our students to be successful and those positions that may support our students in being successful. Hopefully that won’t happen, but that’s my fear. There seems to be a lot more apprehension this time around.”

Hallman said the first-year teachers from Oconee she met impressed her greatly.

“It was the day before Christmas break, but they listened so intently,” Hallman said. “I wish them the best and am here anytime they need me.”