“My students were so happy,” Corbett said. “They jumped around and clapped really loud. The experience was very rewarding.”
Corbett sponsors Vocabulary Club and serves on the Renaissance committee and technology committee. Corbett has previously sponsored National Honor Society. Corbett has also graded AP Lang exams in previous years.
“I didn’t quite believe it because we have so many great teachers at MHS,” Corbett said. “I was so surprised I cried a little bit.”
Corbett received her bachelor’s degree in English and her master’s degree in education from University of Missouri St. Louis. Previously, Corbett attended Notre Dame High School and Lindbergh High School.
“From the start, I knew I wanted to be a teacher,” Corbett said. “Teaching was never a stepping stone to an administrative position for me.”
Corbett created the AP Lang class at Eureka High School before moving to MHS. She has taught at MHS for 17 years. She has 32 years of teaching experience, all with Rockwood.
“My students are the reason I teach,” Corbett said. “The connections I have with my students are the reasons I stay.”
Mary Reboulet, secretary, retyped all the student nominations and sent them through email to teachers for voting. Students, teachers and parents nominated 14 teachers. Some teachers, including Corbett, received multiple nominations.
“Corbett is a great person and a great teacher,” Reboulet said. “She does a lot of things for this school many people don’t know about.”
Sophomores Morgan Noll and Rachel Hartman are both students of Corbett’s first hour ALAR/P II class.
“The Teacher of the Year should be accepting towards all students, unbiased, welcoming, and eager to teach,” Hartman said. “She truly exhibits all those qualities.”
Hartman said Corbett taught her how to cooperate with other students and how to expand her comfort zone.
Noll said Corbett taught her how to be comfortable in front of an audience, research effectively, and synthesize information.
“With Mrs. Corbett’s help, we went from shaky 5-minute PowerPoints to persuasive, multimedia 45-minute presentations,” Noll said. “She helped us make the impossible possible.”