Carla Alspaugh, sixth grade Social Studies teacher at Bluffton-Harrison Middle School, has been named the Indiana Academic Coach of the Year for the Middle Level Division.
Mrs. Alspaugh has been with BHMSD for 13 years with 19 years of teaching experience. Since the Academic Super Bowl teams began at BHMS in 2018, Mrs. Alspaugh has led the Social Studies team to three state championships (2018, 2021, 2023) and one state runner-up title (2019).
“Mrs. Alspaugh has tremendous command of her classroom and as a result, her students perform well and have a high level of respect for her,” BHMS Assistant Principal Stacy Herrold wrote in his nomination letter. “She runs well planned academic practices and is a great motivational coach. Her ability to positively communicate, encourage and inspire students to succeed is second to none.”
Jill Slinker, director of student programs for the Indiana Association of School Principals, was on hand Thursday afternoon for the surprise announcement at BHMS. IASP sponsors the Academic Super Bowl Team state contests.
“It’s very impressive that a coach can take a program and finish in the top positions multiple years in a row with such diverse topics,” Ms. Slinker says, “and her success is testament to her ability as a coach.”
Mrs. Alspaugh credits the success to her hardworking students.
“I love coaching Academic teams,” Mrs. Alspaugh says. “You learn so much because the topics change every year. But a lot of credit goes to the students. Each year I’ve had some really good students with which to work and they have put in the effort and have worked hard and we’ve been able, as a team, to pull it off.”
BHMS Principal Rick Mettler has witnessed the success of the BHMS Academic Super Bowl Teams year after year.
“Mrs. Alspaugh was one of the first teachers recruited to help establish an academic team at Bluffton Middle School,” Mr. Mettler says. “Her competitiveness and willingness to prepare has instilled a successful culture within her Social Studies teams over these past 6 years. Our kids are very fortunate to have someone as dedicated as Mrs. Alspaugh preparing them for competition.”
Within BHMSD, Mrs. Alspaugh is a leader, role model and a previous BHMSD Educator of the Year recipient.
“She is an individual who takes tremendous pride in her work,” Mr. Herrold says. “Mrs. Alspaugh is very disciplined in her work and continually strives for excellence in all that she does.”
