Ohio Virtual Academy teacher makes 'Elite 100' list

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — One Ohio Virtual Academy teacher based out of Bowling Green landed on the IXL Learning Elite 100 list, based on her students' performance over the last year.

IXL Learning is a K-12 online curriculum used by Ohio Virtual Academy, and many people across the globe.

It helps students grow at an instructional level and stay up to speed.

Each year, IXL learning comes out with an "Elite 100" list, highlighting the top 100 teachers out of the 800,000 that use the site, and Caitlyn Butterfield made her way onto the list.

"When I got the email, I almost started crying because it was just so emotional to me that I was able to make that impact on my students, to get them to be encouraged and to keep working and to make their growth," Butterfield said.

Butterfield's students are monitored on how much time they spend on the site, how many questions they've answered and what subjects they work in, among other factors.

But Butterfield, who teaches high school English, believes her method of being able to keep kids engaged through more current content such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, are what keeps her students intrigued.

"Why I choose the books I do is because there are movies. A lot of the things done now into Hollywood. So we are able to sit and compare and contrast them more and have those more real world discussions of, 'Well, you've seen this, but you've read this. Where are the differences?'"

She makes sure to keep the kids engaged all while ensuring they're ready for the state tests at the end of the year.

She said without her students, this achievement wouldn't be possible.

"I give them so much credit because without them, I would've never made this list. I can do everything under my power to teach them all I want, but they're really the ones that helped me achieve this because they're the ones that put in the work outside of the school."

Butterfield said one of her favorite things while teaching is seeing her students confidence grow in areas they've struggled in, in the past.

To find out more about IXL Learning and the services they offer, head over to their website at ixl.com.