Missy Testerman

Missy Testerman, the 2024 National and Tennessee Teacher of the Year, is a veteran classroom teacher with more than three decades of classroom experience. She is a staunch advocate for public education, students, families, and her fellow teachers. Missy served as a first and second grade teacher at Rogersville City School in Rogersville, Tennessee, for 30 years before taking advantage of the state’s Grow Your Own initiative and adding an English as a Second Language endorsement that enabled her to teach her school’s English learners.

Missy firmly believes that educators can not love students into proficiency. Caring for our students and providing a nurturing learning environment is important, but simply loving our students is not enough. In order to help students affect the trajectories of their lives, educators must continually deliver high-level academic content that allows students to meet academic goals. She considers her greatest contribution to her profession to be the love and desire for learning that she has instilled in countless students over the past three decades. A Tennessee native and first-generation college graduate herself, Missy takes great pride in seeing her former students succeed in life and is motivated to ensure the next generation receives a broadened education while living in a rural setting.

Outside of her professional obligations and advocacy work, Missy enjoys reading, running, hiking, and traveling with her family.