RICHMOND, VA – You can’t go home again but you can go back to high school again in a way, which is what Lindsey Pantele did to become an English teacher at Glen Allen High School near Richmond, Virginia – winning her county’s top annual teaching award for it.

There was no ceremony because of the COVID-19 Coronavirus restrictions but Pantele, an active member of the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral community, got a $1000 check from school officials who came to her home.

She was graduated from Godwin High School, 18 miles away,15 years ago, said the Richmond Times-Dispatch in report. “This goes beyond anything I could have expected,” said Pantele. “It’s surreal and so exciting.”

After graduating from Christopher Newport University with a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in teaching, Pantele came back to teach at Glen Allen when the building opened in 2010.

“I didn’t want to apply anywhere else,” Pantele said. “I wanted to give back to the county that shaped me.”

Superintendent Amy Cashwell said colleagues reported Pantele is highly engaged with her students, helping motivate them to realize their full potential. She did that.