Buckhannon, WV—Two West Virginia Wesleyan College alumni have been named County Teachers of the Year. Erin Anderson ’99, a fifth grade teacher at Tennerton Elementary School is the Upshur County award recipient, while Adam Loudin ’07, a music teacher at Robert L. Bland Middle School is Lewis County’s nominee for the West Virginia State Teacher of the Year.
Anderson is finishing her 20th year of teaching in Upshur County. She has been a leader throughout her career including serving as the Faculty Senate secretary and as a member of the Title I, Interview, and Leadership Committees. In addition, she has served as the president and president elect of the Upshur County Reading Council and is the assistant volleyball coach at Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School.
The elementary education Wesleyan grad has also been actively involved as a fundraiser for Tennerton Elementary School’s PTO, the Upshur County Recreation Complex, Splashers Swim Club, and the Mileage Club, which encourages families to work together to be more physically aware. While a member of the West Virginia Reading Association, she served as the director of membership for the state organization. She is a recipient of the Darla K. Edgell Excellence in Teaching Award.
After graduating from Wesleyan, she earned a M.A. in Reading from West Virginia University. Anderson has pursued a number of professional development opportunities including PAX Training, guided reading, Math 4 Life, Minds in Motion, Eureka Math, Safety Care, and STAR Renaissance Learning.
Loudin is the Lewis County Teacher of the Year for the second time in the past seven years. He is described by his students as influential, genuine, respectful, and inspirational. The music education Wesleyan grad doubled the size of the music program shortly after his arrival at Robert L. Bland.
Loudin earned a M.A. in Jazz Studies at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music and was a graduate assistant to legendary jazz educator Dr. David Baker. In 2013, he initiated a Lewis County satellite choir for the Chanticleer Children’s Chorus, and in 2015 became the Artistic Director for the entire Chorus. In 2016 and 2018, Robert L. Bland’s band, under Loudin’s direction, was selected as the Music Educators Association State Honor Band. The school’s choir, also under his direction, earned that distinction in 2017. Loudin was also honored as the West Virginia Wesleyan College Young Alumni Achievement Award recipient in 2016.
Loudin is as an adjunct professor of music at Wesleyan, a position he has held since 2013, and continues to be a guest conductor and clinician around the state as both a choral and instrumental music educator. He is an active freelance trumpeter, a member of the West Virginia Brass Quintet, a leader of small jazz ensembles, and a sideman with musicians from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.
