TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A local teacher has been guiding students for over three decades now, and while she is retiring at the end of the school year, she will continue to help education in the state of Indiana.
Tonya Pfaff has taught at all three schools in Vigo County throughout her 32 years in the classroom and has served as State Representative for Indiana House District 43 since 2018.
Pfaff has been passionate about the welfare and support for education since the beginning of her career.
Today, she believes the shift in technology has made holding students’ attention increasingly more challenging.
“When I first started, there was a lot of money in public education to do field trips, activities, really dive in and problem solve”, Pfaff said. “We had materials and resources to do that. Advance 32 years later and you have the world in your pocket. Almost every kid, almost every student I teach, has a cell phone and they would just much rather be entertained by that.”
Although Pfaff is retiring as a teacher, she will continue to serve on the education committee at the state level.
She says she will continue to support and be a voice for education.
“The way I can help is just being in the statehouse and reiterating the fact that we need funding”, Pfaff said. “Quite frankly, our children deserve the best that they can, so we need to support our teachers, we need to support our schools. The children are the future and the better teachers we have and the more resources we have, we can individualize and help students get to that point where they can be as successful as they want to be.”
Pfaff said she is thankful for the time she has spent with her students and the privilege of watching them grow.
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