Newport News teacher named 2025 Virginia regional teacher of the year
Crittenden Middle School teacher Chanda Woods was named 2025 Virginia Region 2 Teacher of the Year by the Virginia Department of Education in a surprise announcement at the school.
Woods has 25 years of teaching experience with Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) and has been in her current position teaching middle school English for four years. Her students filed into the library just prior to the announcement and cheered along with State Delegate Shelly Simonds, NNPS School Board members and administration staff, Crittenden staff and numerous supporters of their special teacher.
Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Lisa Coons presented the commemorative plaque and described why Woods was selected. Woods was one of eight regional finalists for State Teacher of the Year. Region 2 is comprised of 16 school divisions, including NNPS.
Woods was honored as NNPS Teacher of the Year for 2023-24, as well as NNPS Middle School Teacher of the Year and Crittenden Teacher of the Year.
New turf surface expands uses of NNPS’ Todd Stadium
Newport News Public Schools has installed an artificial turf surface at John B. Todd Stadium that was completed in the spring.
The newly-resurfaced stadium will be available for school sports events and for outside groups to use. The field is painted in NNPS colors of blue, yellow and white with an NN logo at midfield and “Todd” in one end zone and “Stadium” in the other.
In addition to being used for track and football, lines have been added to create soccer and field hockey fields to accommodate those sports. The field won’t have to be maintained as grass had to be, which will save money on labor and materials.
The facility will be able to be used more often and for additional varied activities by the local community and organizations around the state.
Three NNPS Odyssey of the Mind teams take top honors at state
Three Newport News Public Schools Odyssey of the Mind teams earned top honors in the 2024 Odyssey of the Mind Virginia State Tournament held at Tuscarora High School in Leesburg.
The Booker T. Washington Middle School team earned first place and qualified to attend the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals Tournament at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Teams from Warwick High School and Knollwood Meadows Elementary School earned third place in their respective problems and divisions.
The teams of students have worked since September to practice spontaneous problems and solve their specific long-term problems. Odyssey of the Mind emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving, creativity, budgeting, time management, public speaking, performance and set design, costume design and building.
