By Kelsey Kendall
Deana Hubbell ’03 has a few things she tries to remember every day: every day is a new day — no matter what happened the day before — and to make sure her students know she believes in them and cares about them.
Those tenets have carried her through a 21-year career in education and led her to being recognized as the 2026 Virginia Regional Teacher of the Year for Region 2, which covers Tidewater.
As one of eight regional teachers of the year selected by the Virginia Department of Education, Hubbell is being considered for the 2026 Mary V. Bicouvaris Virginia Teacher of the Year Award. The award will be announced in early May.
“It all just blows my mind,” Hubbell said. “Because I like what I do, but I’m not alone. I learn from other people all the time. Nobody has all the best ideas and is the best teacher — we all work together in the best interest of the students.”
Hubbell has taught third grade at Carrsville Elementary in Isle of Wight for the last five years. She previously taught in Virginia Beach and served as an instructional technology specialist.
Before that, Hubbell was a student at Old Dominion University, majoring in interdisciplinary studies and preparing to be an elementary school teacher. A mother and Navy wife, she said one of the things that stood out about her experience at the University was how accommodating it was. She worked full-time as a real estate paralegal while taking care of her family while her husband was deployed. Evening classes helped her get to a career she was excited about in which she felt she had room to grow.
She received her master’s in mathematical leadership from Regent University in 2008.
Teaching elementary school means sometimes she accidentally gets called “Mom” — which she loves — and she gets to help set her students up for success later in life.
“This is the foundation for them to move on to middle school and high school and possibly college or a vocational school,” Hubbell said.
To support that goal, Hubbell does not like to limit her lessons to what can be accomplished within the four walls of a classroom. When she can, she likes to get the community involved — both local and global.
When it came time to teach the kids about simple machines like wheels and axles, wedges, pulleys, inclined planes and levers, that physics class Hubbell had to take as a general education course at came in handy. It was a local farmer, though, who helped by building and bringing in “this whole contraption” that had every simple machine on it so the students could put their hands on them. He even left it for future classes to share that hands-on learning experience.
There is also a local pizza place that lets Hubbell and her classes visit to learn about economics and business while getting to make and eat their own pizza.
“The community feeling out here is really nice,” she said.
This collaborative spirit is what makes Carrsville Elementary principal and 1992 graduate, Tara Outland, proud to have her a part of their community.
"Mrs. Hubbell is an integral part of the Carrsville staff and community, always seeking professional development opportunities to enhance classroom instruction, while cultivating a collaborative community to support continued student social and academic growth,” Outland said.
At 8 or 9 years old, the students may not have had too many opportunities to learn about the world outside of the Hampton Roads region. Hubbell tries to get grants to work with Level Up Village, a company that connects classrooms all over the world to share STEM lessons and activities through videos they create and send back and forth. In the past, her classes in Virginia Beach and Isle of Wight have been able to connect with others in Mexico, Zimbabwe and Jordan.
“Last year, we were matched with a class in Mexico,” Hubbell said. “(The students) could see, ‘Hey, they’re just like us,’ which is pretty cool, because sometimes they don’t have a big worldview.”
After a day of learning, Hubbell said it is important to her that her kids know what they mean to her, so she says “I love you” in sign language as they leave the classroom.
“No matter what kind of day the students have had, the last thing they hear from me every day is ‘I love you,’” she said.