"Teaching is a life-changing business." - Jeff Norris, 2023 Alabama Teacher of the Year.
Selection of Alabama's Teacher of the Year will be held at The Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Globe Theatre on Wednesday, May 7.
Four finalists for the honor are:
- Katie Collins – Bluff Park Elementary School, Hoover
- Katherine A. Thomas – Edgewood Elementary School, Homewood
- Aubrey Bennett – G.W. Carver High School, Birmingham
- Amanda Gudmundsson – Athens High School, Athens
The four finalists were chosen from sixteen district winners selected from the eight state board of education districts, one elementary winner, and one secondary winner.
The May 7 ceremony honoring all 16 district winners and naming the State Teacher of the Year will be hosted by the State Board of Education and the Alabama Department of Education.
The sixteen district winners included:
- Catherine Megan Hockey, Rainbow Elementary School (District VIII Elementary Teacher of the Year)
- Heather Oden Pettit, Arab High School (District VI Secondary Teacher of the Year)
- Andrew Lee Mills, Florence Middle School (District VII Secondary Teacher of the Year)
- Deidra Brewer, Highland Park and Webster Elementary Schools (District VII Elementary Teacher of the Year)
- Angela Kirby, Gulf Shores Middle School (District I Elementary Teacher of the Year)
- Kristen Madsen, Gulf Shores High School (District I Secondary Teacher of the Year)
- Amy Garrett, Center for Advanced Academics and Accelerated Learning (District II Elementary Teacher of the Year)
- Joshua Wine, Auburn Junior High School (District II Secondary Teacher of the Year)
- Kristin Bundren, Spain Park High School (District III Secondary Teacher of the Year)
- Lindsey Norris, Forest Avenue Elementary School (District V Elementary Teacher of the Year)
- Roseann Byrd, Citronelle High School (District V Secondary Teacher of the Year)
- Andrea Dade Horn, Locust Fork Elementary School (District VI Elementary Teacher of the Year)
The state winner will advance to the nationals and compete with 57 other state-level winners for National Teacher of the Year. The Alabama winner will also serve for a year as a full-time ambassador for education and the teaching profession and conduct professional workshops.
The selection process started last fall with 155 teachers in the running. That number was later narrowed to the 16 finalists.
The 155 contestants across the state were recommended by district superintendents, principals, and colleagues through the rigorous Alabama Teacher of the Year application process.
Deborah Stringfellow, a 40-year veteran of the teaching profession, is the current Teacher of the Year for 2024-25. She teaches fourth grade at Airport Road Intermediate School in central Alabama's Elmore County.
Her parents had been forced to abandon their educational dreams because of economic needs.
Stringfellow found early in her childhood that school and learning were a refuge — a personal source of joy. She embraced every opportunity to teach others. She even helped her parents earn their GEDs and taught her brother to read.
Stringfellow said that education is a lifelong journey, not a destination.
She earned a Bachelor of Science in elementary education and a Master of Science in special education from what was then Troy State University. Later, she earned a specialist designation in educational leadership from the University of Alabama.
National Teacher of the Year and 58 state-level competitions are organized by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). It is the only national education nonprofit that represents all 58 leaders of K-12 education systems in every state, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, the Bureau of Indian Education, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. Collectively, the organization impacts the educational needs of:
- 50 million students
- 3.8 million teachers
- 98,200 schools
- 13,600 school districts
CCSSO's National Teacher of the Year Program has been the country's most prestigious teacher recognition program for 70 years. The program provides exceptional educators a platform to elevate issues affecting teachers and their students.
Jim 'Zig' Zeigler writes about Alabama's people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
