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Craig — Moffat County High School sophomore Melissa Garlock and Sylvia Duncan, her English II teacher, both cast a critical eye on their handiwork Tuesday morning.

"Is it hanging pretty straight?" Duncan asks as she posts one of Garlock's poems in the hallway outside the classroom.

Garlock, who is standing nearby, hands Duncan pieces of clear plastic tape and helps her straighten the handmade poster. They talk and, occasionally, quietly laugh together in the near-silent hall as they put the finishing touches on the display.

Duncan is in her element.

"I probably always knew that I wanted to work with words and people," she said.

Her work with both factors made an impression on senior Emily Norris.

Norris nominated Duncan for the 2008 Craig Daily Press Teacher of the Year award. Daily Press Editorial Board members selected Duncan out of a pool of 12 nominees.

Duncan's "incredible character and wonderful teaching methods inspire her students to work hard," Norris wrote in her nomination.

Norris' impression of Duncan began forming in the first class she took with Duncan as a freshman.

"She connected with us as kids," Norris said. "She sat down in the desks with us and she brought herself down to our level.

"She wasn't a teacher - she was just another one of us."

Norris plans to become a teacher after high school. She said Duncan's example was a driving factor in her decision to follow in the profession.

"I think that it really inspired me to help other kids because she works so hard," she said.

Duncan's teaching style also impressed Norris.

"She encourages hands-on lessons that allow us to interact with our peers and let our imaginations run wild," Norris wrote.

The latter half of that sentence struck a chord with Ken Wergin, an Editorial Board member who helped select Duncan for the award.

"When they allow the thinking to just go," he said, "it's really surprising what it will do to create the imagination, which, quite often, is lacking."

Duncan's teaching career spans across about 20 years, including nearly eight years at Moffat County High School. She and her husband, Tom, now work at the high school together where the latter is an art teacher.

The job's biggest return, Sylvia said, is when she knows a student has grasped a concept.

"You can see it happen," Sylvia said. "The furrow goes out of their brow and all of a sudden, their eyes widen and they get it."

Teaching in Moffat County requires Sylvia and her husband to commute daily from their home in Steamboat Springs. Still, the Duncans wouldn't have it any other way.

"We feel strongly that we've made good connections with this community," Sylvia said. "We like this community very much.

"We come here because we want to."

Occasionally, Sylvia has had to step back from the classroom temporarily. She's interspersed her teaching career with stints in other professions, including housekeeping and secretarial work.

But, she continues returning to teaching.

"The two of us have thought where we do our best work in this world is here in the classroom," Sylvia said, speaking on behalf of herself and her husband. "I think we feel like we're making a contribution : to the world."

Part of that contribution is teaching students how to come to their own conclusions.

"Spoon feeding kids doesn't create lasting learning," she said. "They have to learn to think, not just spit out what you've put into their heads."

During her planning period, Sylvia displayed her award to students and teachers who gathered near her door to read her students' poems on display.

Still, she doesn't believe the credit belongs solely to herself.

"This is a team effort," Sylvia said, adding that she accepted the award on behalf of all the faculty and staff at the high school.

"I'm just one person."