Excellent Educators is a WAVY-TV 10 initiative to celebrate local teachers who have gone above and beyond for their students and communities during the last academic year. These Excellent Educators were nominated by their school divisions. Congratulations to these educators for all of their hard work and accomplishments!

Name: Tiffanie Smith

Division: Newport News Public Schools

Position: Career and technical education teacher and activities director at Heritage High School

What the school division said about this Excellent Educator: Tiffanie Smith teaches economics and personal finance, business law, and digital application. She has 20 years of experience in education. Smith ensures that her students are prepared for life after they graduate. She incorporates workplace readiness skills in her curriculum and led the effort to open a BayPort student-run credit union at Heritage, giving students the opportunity to gain real-world skills and become financially literate.

Becoming a teacher was not on her radar – at first. She was a college degree in another field when she realized that she was being pulled in another direction. After serving as a substitute teacher in our school division, her fate was sealed. Now, 20 years later, she ensures that her students are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to compete in the job market.

Smith was selected as the NNPS High School Teacher of the Year for 2022-2023.