UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Penn State College of Education alumna has been named National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).
Ashlie Crosson serves as an English and journalism teacher at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, where she aims to prepare her students to navigate the complexities of global society.
Crosson received a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the Penn State College of Education in a program offered online through Penn State World Campus in 2015. In 2018, she became a Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms fellow. The program equips educators to bring an international perspective to their schools through targeted training, experience abroad, and global collaboration.
She said the fellowship transformed her pedagogy, helping her to frame curriculum in a way designed to empower students’ voices.
She began her professional career in Delaware in 2011 before taking a job in the Bellefonte Area School District. While at Bellefonte, she obtained her master’s from Penn State and then accepted a position with the same Mifflin County School District she attended as a youth.
She now finds herself as that teacher uplifting her students while working with the very educator who was most impactful in her own life.
“Tona Williams is the number one reason I'm a teacher,” Crosson said. “She was my journalism teacher and my media teacher, and she's the one who wrote my letter of recommendation for college, proofread my essays. She saw potential in me when I didn't see it in myself. She made her students feel like they matter, and she still does. And she teaches about 27 steps away from me now. So, coming back and being able to teach with her, that's really been like a personal dream come true for me.”
Crosson was initially a journalism major at Susquehanna University but decided she instead wanted to become an educator and graduated in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in English and language arts teacher education. Now, she can meld both worlds together as she not only teaches English and journalism at Mifflin County but also helps her students print a school newspaper, manage social media accounts, and publish a magazine.
CCSSO’s National Teacher of the Year Program honors exceptional teachers across the country by celebrating their work. Through a one-of-a-kind professional learning program, the National Teacher of the Year Program helps teachers amplify their instructional practices as well as their voices and empowers them to take part in policy discussions at the state and national levels.
As the 2025 National Teacher of the Year, Crosson will spend a year representing educators and serving as an ambassador for the teaching profession.
Crosson was eligible for the award after being named the 2024 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Learn more about the Master of Education in Educational Leadership that is offered in partnership with the Penn State College of Education online through Penn State World Campus.
