The Tennessee Department of Education on Friday announced nine finalists for the state’s 2015-16 Teacher of the Year Award.
The finalists are elementary, middle and high school educators from nine separate geographic areas across the state. The Teacher of the Year, as well as top winners from East, Middle and West Tennessee, will be selected from this group and announced this fall.
For the second straight year, finalists will join the state education commissioner’s Teacher Advisory Council, which offers insight, feedback and advice on issues that impact Tennessee teachers.
“Seeking feedback and advice from our Teacher of the Year finalists is a critical step in ensuring that we are learning from and listening to teachers from all regions of our state,” Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said in a news release.
The 2015-16 finalists are:
West Tennessee
Tonya Hawkins, Arlington Elementary School, Arlington Community Schools
Cathy Whitehead, West Chester Elementary School, Chester County Schools
Pamela Copeland, Dresden Middle School, Weakley County Schools
Middle Tennessee
Kyle Prince, Central Magnet High School, Rutherford County Schools
Regina Peery, McDowell Elementary School, Maury County Schools
Gay Burger, East Side Elementary School, Cannon County Schools
East Tennessee
Adam Moss, Arnold Memorial Elementary School, Cleveland City Schools
Karen Kelly, Pigeon Forge High School, Sevier County Schools
Rebekah Haren, Dobyns-Bennett High School, Kingsport City Schools
The 2014-15 Teacher is the Year is Karen Vogelsang, a fourth-grade teacher at Keystone Elementary School in Memphis.