Community Corner

Cheshire High School Teacher of the Year: Megumi Yamamoto

Yamamoto was recognized Thursday by the Cheshire Board of Education.

This article was published in the Cheshire High School Rampage. It was written by Editor-In-Chief Aneri Pattani, 2013.

Ms. Megumi Yamamoto, head of the English Department at CHS, has been named Cheshire Teacher of the Year and was even a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

Each year, teachers are given an opportunity to nominate their colleagues for the town’s Teacher of the Year Award. The nominations are reviewed by a committee of teachers, parents, and administrators, who also interview the prospective winners and ultimately award the title of Cheshire Teacher of the Year.

This year, Ms. Sarah Redford, English teacher, nominated her department leader, Yamamoto.

“I nominated [Yamamoto] because she is a great department leader, a good teacher, and a good person. But the main reason I nominated her is because she is always trying to be a better person, and I want to be a teacher just like her,” says Redford.

Winning Cheshire Teacher of the Year had never been a clear goal for Yamamoto, but she feels very excited and honored now that it has happened.

“I had never really thought about winning Cheshire Teacher of the Year. Every year at the beginning of the school year, the winner gives a speech to all the teachers in town. I used to admire those teachers. I am very honored and humbled to join them,” says Yamamoto.


After winning Cheshire Teacher of the Year, Yamamoto went on to compete for Connecticut Teacher of the Year. As one of the winners at a town level, Yamamoto was chosen by a committee to join fourteen other finalists for the state teacher of the year award.

She then wrote several essays, gave a presentation on education, and completed various other tasks as part of the process to become one of four finalists for the state award, which is quite an honor.

Unfortunately, Yamamoto did not win Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

According to Yamamoto, she doesn’t do anything too different from other teachers because all the teachers she knows are just as passionate about their jobs as she is. However, her students, her colleagues, and the town committee sure think there is something special about this Cheshire Teacher of the Year.

Find out what's happening in Cheshirewith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here