Semifinalists named for Teacher of the Year Award to receive new Florida Blue Professional Learning Scholarships
12/12/2017
Fifteen outstanding public school teachers last week were named semifinalists for the 2018 Florida Blue Duval County Teacher of the Year.
The semifinalists were selected from the 177 Teachers of the Year nominated by their public schools to represent that school at the county level. This year, Florida Blue has generously provided a new $1,000 Professional Learning Scholarship for each semifinalist.
Semifinalists can use the Florida Blue Professional Learning Scholarship to pursue a professional learning experience of their choice. This includes learning such as attending an educational conference, taking an educational course, bringing a professional learning experience to their school, starting a professional learning community in their school and more!
When teachers pursue professional learning experiences, they improve their skills and become more proficient at their jobs, but it also improves learning outcomes for students which benefits our community as a whole.
From the semifinalists, five finalists will be selected and announced in late December. From those five, one will be named 2018 Florida Blue Duval County Teacher of the Year at the 27th Annual EDDY Awards Gala on Friday, Feb. 2 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront. Tickets to the EDDY Awards, presented by the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, are available at eddyawardsjax.org and are $75 per person.
The semifinalists are:
Jessica Barker, San Pablo Elementary School
Stephanie Bellino, Garden City Elementary School
Ashley Cascais, Woodland Acres Elementary School
Tabetha Cox, Sadie T. Tillis Elementary School
Carla Dawson-Jackson, A. Phillip Randolph Career Academies
Brittany Dean, Alfred I. duPont Middle School
Krista Dunn, Landmark Middle School
Yetta Goolsby, Greenland Pines Elementary School
Mary Krieger, Stanton College Preparatory School
Alicia Lloyd, Pretrial Detention Facility
Summer Meide, Twin Lakes Academy Elementary School
Walter Nettles, Biscayne Elementary School
Will Smith, Mayport Coastal Sciences Middle School
Jason Pearce, Lake Lucina Elementary School
Abe Reising, Mandarin High School
Honoring the county’s most exceptional educators, the EDDY Awards have evolved over the last few years into a year-long initiative building a network of exemplary teachers who are leaders in the community and who work to improve our schools, accelerate student achievement and elevate the teaching profession.
“Great teachers lay the groundwork for what our city is and what it has the potential to be. These teachers are outstanding examples of the teaching profession in Duval County,” said Trey Csar, president of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund. “We as a community should do everything we can to support, encourage and celebrate the often challenging, but always important, work that these educators do in our schools each and every day.”
Photos and more information (including quotes from references) about each of the semifinalists, as well as a full list of Teachers of the Year from each Duval County public school, are available at jaxpef.org.
Contact Charmaine Campo, Senior Manager of Marketing & Communications, at (904) 790-1178 or Charmaine@jaxpef.org for photos or more information.
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About the Jacksonville Public Education Fund
The Jacksonville Public Education Fund is an independent nonprofit organization that works to spark innovation, relationships and resources to power the potential within and around our public schools to achieve excellent outcomes for all students. For more information, visit www.jaxpef.org or call (904) 356-7757.