Teacher of the Year candidates announced
Columbia County school officials named their top five candidates for Teacher of the Year at a Tuesday school board meeting.
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The teachers chosen were Dealia Yancey, third-grade teacher at Evans Elementary School; Deanne Murphy, kindergarten teacher at Greenbrier Elementary School; Tara Hansen, second-grade teacher at Stevens Creek Elementary School; Shaun Owen, sixth-grade social studies teacher at Greenbrier Middle School; and Karen Chase, ninth- and 10th-grade English teacher at Lakeside High School.
"Being honored by the teachers that I work with everyday like this is one of the highlights of my life," Chase said.
School officials released the names of 27 teachers voted on by each of the county's schools as their teacher of the year, and one other chosen at-large candidate as media specialist of the year.
A panel of three judges from outside the Columbia County School System reviewed an extensive application filed by each of the schools' candidate for Teacher of the Year and pared it down to five finalists.
Those five finalists will face three other judges on Aug. 25, Associate Superintendent of Student Learning Lauren Williams said.
The judges, who are principals and educators from other counties, will spend a half-hour observing each teacher in class and an additional 30 minutes interviewing them.
The winner will be announced at the Teacher of the Year Banquet on Sept. 23 at Westlake Country Club. She will also represent Columbia County in the district Teacher of the Year contest.
"A teacher's strength is their ability to be effective in class, and that's why we feel's it's important that that be a criteria in their being chosen as Teacher of the Year," Williams said.
To those who weren't chosen as a top-five finalist, Williams said they still have much to be proud of.
"Every one of them is a winner to me," she said. "I remember when I was chosen as Teacher of the Year when I was still a teacher, and I was so honored to be chosen by my fellow teachers for what I did in the classroom."
Karen Chase, Lakeside High School Teacher of the Year.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Tara Hansen, Stevens Creek Elementary Teacher of the Year.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Deanne Murphy, kindergarten teacher at Greenbrier Elementary School
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Shaun Owen, Greenbrier Middle School Teacher of the Year.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Dealia Yancy, Evans Elementary Teacher of the Year
Photo by Jim Blaylock