Some might say teaching is a thankless job, but once a year St. Johns County bans together to show its educators that everyone is thankful for what they do.
Ponte Vedra High School announced its Teacher of the Year and Rookie Teacher of the Year last week.
Teacher of the Year Beth McBride, math teacher, has been teaching for 14 years.
"I am so honored," said McBride. "This is such an awesome school and I have great students."
Principal Craig Speziale said McBride is tireless and spends extra time using technology that increases the interest and participation of her students.
"I see her always going the extra mile for her students," he said.
The first Rookie Teacher of the Year for the new school is Jessica Howell. This is Howell’s second year teaching and as a social studies teacher at the school, she said she was excited to be honored.
"It’s nice to know my colleagues value my teaching," Howell said.
Ponte Vedra High wasn’t the only one to name Rookie and Teacher of the Year for the 2008-2009 school year. Linda Thompson, principal at Nease High School, announced Nease’s picks last week as well.
"The nominees for Teacher of the Year are all great people and we appreciate every one of them very much," she said. "The voting was very close."
Teacher of the Year for Nease High School was Kim Collier. According to Thompson, Collier has been with Nease for 14 years and spent the previous seven years at Ed White High School in Jacksonville.
"Kim cares about her students as people," said Thompson. "She goes the extra mile to meet the needs of her students, no matter how much time that requires."
The Rookie Teacher of the Year at Nease is Sharla Partlon, who was also named Teacher of the Month for September at the school. Partlon is a third year teacher and teaches math at the school and is the assistant girls lacrosse coach. Thompson said she always enjoys visiting Partlon’s classroom and her energy and enthusiasm for teaching is evident.
Landrum Middle School also announced its nominees. Sherri Anthony, Dean of Students, was selected as Teacher of the Year and Drew Upchurch, a second year social studies teacher, was named Rookie Teacher of the Year.
All of the nominees from all of the district schools will be narrowed down to a few finalists and the St. Johns County Teacher of the Year will be honored at a banquet in early 2009.
February 9th 2010 - 4:09PM