Having good teachers is important. Having great teachers is necessary. And you find them in every community, in every school.

Students at Mifflin County High School are fortunate to have the newly-crowned National Teacher of the Year Ashlie Crosson teaching them.

A 2007 graduate of Lewistown Area High School, Crosson is a product of the Mifflin County School District. She has come back home to impact the lives of future generations by teaching English and leading the journalism program.

But Crosson will be the first to tell you that her success was the result of having an all-star cast of teachers during her school years. Now, she is using her platform to shine the spotlight of her colleagues, too. After all, she credits many of them for her success.

She has relished this opportunity as the National Teacher of the Year to come such accolades to Mifflin County and to be able to share it with all these people.

Her remarkable achievement is a testament to the caliber of educators within the Mifflin County schools.

Crosson, who has been teaching for 14 years, said authenticity is a big factor in how she teaches, something her students have responded well to.

She believes — especially at the high school level — that students are at a pivotal stage of trying to figure out who they are, and they need to see that from their teachers, too. “If we want them to figure out their identity, then we have to be ourselves as well, because they’re going to learn through what they observe,” Crosson said.

Crosson has been her authentic self since day one. Administrators credit the energy Crosson brings to her classroom every day, saying she makes her students “extend and stretch beyond comfort levels because she wants to get the most out of them.”

Her goals go beyond any book or lesson plan as she teaches her students the fundamentals of journalism, including interviewing, sources and being a consumer of news beyond her high school classroom and into adulthood.

To support teachers, Crosson said it’s important to focus on what you can do for your community. Every student, every school and every community’s needs are different, and Crosson encourages us to find exactly what each of these places needs, what each home needs and that engagement and that involvement between families and businesses and stakeholders in the community is what creates a thriving school district.

There are many schools in the Juniata Valley that are shining examples of that. Mifflin County just happens to have Crosson, who has received the biggest teaching accolade around.

We know she will represent Mifflin County — and her profession — well as she heads off for a bevy of speaking engagements around the country over the next year.

Even after receiving praise for her work, Crosson acknowledged her students. They come in, they show up, and they make the job easy, in her mind. Her goals go beyond her high school classroom and into adulthood.

Despite the fact that she might be hundreds or thousands of miles away during the 2025-26 school year when she will be serving as a national ambassador for educators and students, it’s an almost certainty that she will keep an eye on her home, her students as they continue to progress to successful adulthood and carry on the valuable lessons that they’ve learned from her.

Congratulations, Ashlie Crosson, on being named the 2025 National Teacher of the Year. We certainly applaud and salute you and know you will make us all very proud to be from the Juniata River Valley.