Elizabeth Chaney is a mathematics teacher at Palisade High School in a quiet, comfortable, and small town known for its orchards and beautiful scenery. Mrs. Chaney has been there for me since the very day that I met her. Here is our story…

I met Mrs. Chaney last year, my sophomore year of high school. I was struggling with my mental health and battling a relapse in my eating disorder. I was still struggling with the absence of my mom who had died the year prior and was navigating my relationship with my biological father. Math has always been difficult for me causing me to get easily frustrated and paralyzing my ability to think, and when I joined Mrs. Chaney’s blocked Algebra Two and Pre Calculus class math began to get increasingly difficult. It took very few weeks for Mrs. Chaney and I to connect. We quickly formed a teacher to student bond that has gotten me through many hard times in my high school career. After every quiz and math test I would sit in her class and eat lunch with her as she helped me to talk through the questions and eventually guide me to the correct answer. She saw something in me that I never could, she became the confidence that I needed. Together we discovered my crippling test anxiety and we slowly worked together to help me get over my fear of tests. We ended up deciding it would be best for me to just do the Algebra Two class where she was able to help me deepen my understanding even more so than in the blocked class. 

I became her teacher's aide and spent my last class period with her everyday, helping her, talking to her, singing with her, and much more. She became someone I really trusted. With my broken past, the death of my mom, and my biological father’s cancer diagnosis, she became someone that I felt comfortable opening up to. It’s always been hard for me to open up to people, but Mrs. Chaney has helped me through so much, giving me advice that my mom never got the chance to. Every day I go sit in her classroom and help her or just do homework, and whenever I am upset I know that she is someone I can talk to. I have shared my happiest moments with her and I’ve cried in front of her, but through it all she has been supportive and kind. 

When I felt like my world was falling apart or like I couldn’t do anything right she was the teacher that picked me up, brushed me off, and encouraged me to keep going. She comes to my dance performances, I babysit her kids, and she has been the adult that I always needed in my life. I was lucky to meet her and everyday I am grateful. Everyone deserves their own Mrs. Chaney, and she will always be the teacher of the year in my book.