Sussex Tech teacher Virginia Forcucci named Delaware's 2018 Teacher of the Year

Virginia Forcucci, named Delaware's 2018 Teacher of the Year Tuesday night, said that her students are some of the most important people in her life. 

"I am thrilled to spend my days with them," she said. 

Her biggest mentor is her husband, DJ Forucci, who like her, is an English teacher at Sussex Technical High School in Georgetown. 

Forcucci is a teacher that believes in empathy, compassion and academic discovery as essential to education, she said. 

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Her students talk about race relations, the need for solitude in self-discovery and the absence of cultural literacy in Delaware's schools, and she is inspired. 

Teachers, she said, must be good examples to their students. As Delaware Teacher of the Year, she can help share that view. 

But Tuesday night's announcement went beyond Forcucci, Sussex Tech Principal John Demby believed. 

For a district that put its senior administrators on leave in June after the state auditor published a report outlining financial improprieties involving a local construction firm, being home to Delaware's newest Teacher of the Year could be an incredible boon. 

"This is just good soul food for Sussex Tech," he said. "A great jolt to our spirit." 

Forcucci, who teaches 10-12th grade was selected for the honor from a group of 20 finalists. The nominees were chosen earlier this year to represent the state's 19 public school districts and charter school network, which employ more than 9,000 teachers total. 

Forcucci, in a video shown at an awards ceremony at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, shared a moving story from her classroom.

Every year Forcucci asks students to do research projects, she said. But recently, one of her students chose to study Hispanic dropout rates. About 12.3 percent of students at Sussex Technical High School are Hispanic/Latino. 

The girl, who is Hispanic herself, persisted even though the data was depressing and another student referred to her using a racial slur, Forcucci said. 

When the teen presented on the project, just about the whole class got up to give her a hug. 

The student that used the racial slur asked for forgiveness. 

"It was phenomenal," Forcucci said of the girl's presentation, tearing up as she told the story. 

Anthony Natoli, another English teacher at Sussex Tech, wouldn't be surprised at Forcucci crying. 

"Whether she's laughing so hard at a clever comment from a class clown or suffering along with a student as they share their darkest moment in a piece for creative writing, Virgina Forcucci will cry," he said in a letter nominating her for the honor. "That's what makes Virginia Forcucci special. That's what makes her an incredible educator. That's what makes her an incredible person." 

Forcucci uses literature "to overturn perspectives, to generate critical thought and fruitful discussion, and, ultimately and inevitability in her classroom, to change lives," said one of Forcucci's former students, Zoe James-Collins, in another nomination letter. 

"My classmates and I would often joke that her class was like church: We'd leave her sanctuary each day renewed, enlightened and inspired to be a better person, for many of us, she was the agent of change she urged us to be." 

Forcucci's selection as Delaware’s top educator makes her the 54th Teacher of the Year since the state’s recognition program began. Candidates were nominated because of their ability to inspire students, act professionally and whole-heartedly devote themselves to teaching. 

Each educator submitted a detailed online portfolio exemplifying his or her teaching philosophy, which was reviewed by staff from the state education department earlier this year. One of the state's former Teacher of the Year winners and a DOE staff member then visited their classrooms. 

The final decision was made by an independent panel, which reviewed the ratings from the portfolio review and classroom observation, as well as recorded presentations made by the nominees.

Forcucci will take over from 2017 Delaware Teacher of the Year Wendy Turner the task of representing the state's teachers and addressing community groups, business leaders, legislators and educational organizations about the state of public education in Delaware. 

She will also receive a $5,000 grant to use for the educational benefit of her students, as well as a personal grant of $3,000. All of the other nominees will get a $2,000 grant from the state.

Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies. Looking for more education news? Visit delawareonline.com/education.