Mary Goodwin, who has taught health at Orem Junior High School for 16 years, recently received "Teacher of the Year" honors from the Utah Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

"She is just an overall excellent teacher and we really appreciate her here," said Steve Stewart, Orem Junior High School principal.

Goodwin earned her bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in health education. She also holds two master's degrees -- one in education from Weber State University and the other in educational leadership from BYU.

Goodwin has taught Utah history, elementary school, study skills classes and other things, but her favorite subject to teach is health.

"Teaching health is such an important aspect of every student's education, since their health is one area that will affect them their entire life," Goodwin said. "I look forward to each day of school as students come into my classroom and greet me with their energetic personalities."

She became interested in health as a child because her father was a doctor. She grew up in Ogden and started attending Utah State University before transferring to BYU. As a senior she married.

Now she has six children of her own whom she raised while teaching for a total of 23 years. She taught at Ephraim before coming to Orem.

Besides loving her family and teaching, Goodwin loves to knit. She describes herself as a "obsessive knitter" and has published five books about knitting, selling between 14,000 and 15,000 copies.

Always the teacher, she has even taught her hobby to students who have come to her room after school asking to learn how to knit.

Staying after school to teach is not an unusual sort of thing for her to do. She is known for going the extra mile.

"She always volunteers for assignments for committees to take leadership roles for professional development," Stewart said. "She's always looking for a new way to be helpful."

She even instituted, and still teaches, a class to help seventh-graders with the transition from elementary school to secondary school. It is designed to prepare them for the rigors of secondary school and teach them good study skills, Stewart said.

Principal Stewart said he is glad that Goodwin, who he described as "a cheerleader for the students and a favorite among the faculty," is being recognized in this way.

This story appeared in North County on page A4.