- December 23, 2024
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No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up, and never give up.
This saying has carried Deborah Treur through her 19-year teaching career — from teachers quitting mid-year, teaching through the COVID-19 pandemic, the merger between Osceola and Ortona Elementary and subsequent move, and administration changes.
"Change will happen; how you deal with it tells a lot about what you believe," Treur wrote in a statement to the Observer.
Treur, who currently teaches fifth grade, is Beachside Elementary's Teacher of the Year.
She became an educator thanks to her parents' guidance. From when she was young, her parents had her teach Sunday School classes in high school and Vacation Bible School. As she got older, she said, she was unsure of what direction to take, but her parents started her on the path to teaching.
"My parents are the hardest working people I know," Treur said. "They worked tirelessly and constantly persevered. Their influence shapes who I have become. Parents influence their children, and I hope I have done the same for my own children and the students I am blessed to come into contact with every year."
Treur grew up in Connecticut. Her teaching career began at Warner Christian Academy in South Daytona, and after two years, she moved to teach in public schools, at Palm Terrace Elementary, where she taught gifted students in kindergarten through second grade.
A mom of two sons, she took a break from teaching for a while. When she reentered the workforce, she started by teaching third grade at Osceola Elementary.
"Knowing that the students in my classroom are the future, I feel a responsibility to prepare them for their next level of school and life," Treur said. "It is incredibly rewarding when they understand that I am there for them and work hard to better themselves."
Treur said the nomination for Teacher of the Year is an honor, as she loves serving her fellow colleagues and being nominated alongside other hardworking educators is humbling. She wants to make her school proud that she is their Teacher of the Year representative.
What keeps her motivated?
"I listen to and surround myself with encouraging people and sing my praise worship in the car at full blast," Treur said. "Receiving words of encouragement from friends, family, colleagues, parents, and students who understand the mission of making students’ paths in education or life better keeps me motivated."
