Madison, NC- The same school. The same grade. The same room. For the last 20 years, 4th grade classroom #407 at Huntsville Elementary has belonged to Tracey Dillon. It's where she's taught hundreds of students and where students from her past know where to find her when they want to visit. You hardly ever hear about a teacher remaining in the same school or grade level for years, let alone the exact same classroom, but that's why Dillon has become her school's "constant," and why she feels even more at home while at work.

Before her career as an educator ever began, she found herself in the halls and classrooms of Huntsville Elementary. While working towards her undergraduate degree at UNC Greensboro, she first interned at New Vision (now Dillard Academy), and when it was time to begin student teaching, she moved to Huntsville to shadow a 4th grade teacher. The impression Dillon made on the school's principal was one that landed her a position right after graduation. She was hired as a 2nd grade teacher, but the following year she found herself in what would become her permanent classroom –Room 407.

Fourth grade is not only the grade Dillon has been teaching since the start of her career, it's also when you could say she developed a love for school itself. As a student at Konnoak Elementary in Winston-Salem, Dillon was placed into Mrs. Chisholm's 4th grade class. This ended up being sort of a turning point in her life. It was through Mrs. Chisholm that she discovered education was the "vehicle to success that no one [can] take away." She also learned what would become the foundation of her future career –how to build lasting relationships with students.

"She worked really hard to build a relationship with me, beyond just checking in," said Dillon about Mrs. Chisholm. "She was this really strong woman. I would watch her talk to other adults, and she was always respectful but strong. The way that she would talk to students –She wasn't demeaning to us. She would actually talk to us. I thought she was incredible."

Teachers can leave a lasting impact on their students, and it was a random thought of Mrs. Chisholm while touring UNCG's campus that put Dillon on the path to education. She looked at her dad and said, "I think I want to be a teacher." From there, she toured the university's education building and enrolled into its program. She knew she could always change her mind, but once she found herself interning and student teaching, she realized there was no turning back –teaching was what she was meant to do. Dillon credits her mentors for inspiring her to not look back, saying she wouldn't be where she is today if she did not have them to guide her.

You could say Dillon's love for historical figures also inspired her to become an educator. She's always loved the idea of "small people doing big, important things." While she agrees teachers are not at all "small," she feels they aren't recognized as much as they should be even though they make huge differences in their communities. She says those differences come from the expectations teachers set, consistency and the connections they make with their students.

"Public education is the foundation of every community, and I think it's really important that teachers are saying, 'I'm a public educator. I'm doing these wonderful things,' so that people in our communities know how important this work is."

Taking what she loved most about Mrs. Chisholm, Dillon is intentional on building relationships with her students. If she gets home and realizes she didn't talk to someone much that day, she will be sure to give them that extra attention the next day. It's through her desire to connect that she's realized her students respond to her more positively, even during times where they may find themselves in trouble. They're also more engaged and attentive during class. It also helps that over the years, Dillon has seen many changes involving curriculum and teaching methods. She says it's important that educators learn to adapt to their students' needs and make adjustments to their methods if they see someone struggling.

"It's important to me that kids leave here knowing that they are capable of so much more," Dillon said while getting emotional.

It's that raw emotion that carries her through every school year and keeps former students coming back. In her 21 years at the same school, she's seen almost every child in her community grow up. She's taught every sibling in many families, and she's excited to hopefully teach a former student's child soon!

Her message: "I hope that every student -students I have now, students I've had in the past- I hope that all of the high expectations and the huge relationships that we build together, they always remember that and take it with them into the world and do something with it. I hope when things get hard, they can think back to being here."

Congratulations to our 2026 Teacher of the Year for making a difference.