POINT CLEAR — Fifty Baldwin County Public Schools' teachers were honored Thursday night, March 24, during the annual Teacher of the Year banquet, held at The Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa, Autograph Collection.

The event, hosted by the Baldwin County Education Coalition, recognizes the Teachers of the Year from every Baldwin County public school.

"We do what we do because we appreciate you and what you do, but it's also about education and what it means to our community," said Terry Burkle, executive director, Baldwin County Education Coalition, to the gathered audience. "We identify education as the foundation for creating a strong community, for growing our future leaders, so what you do is so important to making our community what it is. That's why we do what we do, because we think your job is just that important, you need us. We're in this together, it takes a village."

Every year, potential teachers of the year are nominated by their peers. School principals review nominations and select the teacher of the year to represent their school.

"We're here to celebrate, and we're not just celebrating individuals who are pathfinders, we're celebrating trailblazers," said keynote speaker Dr. Kathy L. Murphy, president, Gadsden State Community College. "We're not just celebrating individuals who met the standards, although they did, we're celebrating those who set the bar. We're celebrating the facilitators of learning, but more importantly, I think, they're actually innovators of better ways to do it. We're celebrating not just teachers, but how commendable is that, is there a better thing to do with your life than to impact the lives of students? So, we're celebrating those who change lives for better, changing lives forever, and whose influence cannot be measured."

Teachers of the Year have the option to enter the running to be named District Teacher of the Year. Those who wish to participate must complete a detailed packet that will be scored by a panel of six. Results will be tallied and the District Teachers of the Year for elementary and secondary levels are chosen and announced during the annual banquet.

The Elementary Teacher of the Year for 2022 is Tori Erdossy, fourth grade ELA and Social Studies teacher at Fairhope West Elementary. She has taught for 17 years and been at Fairhope West for eight years. She is an eMINTS certified teacher who implements STEAM education and real-world tasks in her classroom.

"I don't know what to say, I'm so shocked," Erdossy said after the reveal. "It's a huge, huge honor. This is going to make me cry to look around this room at these people, and to be a part of this group and this amazing school system, it's just an honor. Baldwin Proud, this is such an amazing honor."

Patsy Brantley, ESL teacher at Robertsdale High School, was announced as the Secondary Teacher of the Year. She founded the Spanish National Honor Society chapter at RHS and the first chapter of H.o.P.e. (Hispanic Organization Promoting Education) in Alabama.

"I'm completely shocked, overwhelmed, thrilled, excited," said Brantley after the banquet. "I'm looking forward to going on (in the competition), absolutely. It's a completely new experience for me. I've never won Teacher of the Year, much less District Teacher of the Year, so I think I have a lot to learn about where we go from here, but I'm excited about it."

Both Erdossy and Brantley will advance to compete for the regional and then the state Teacher of the Year awards.

"I have to say, if there's any county that's dealt with these past two years as Baldwin County's educational family, and I think that we lead the way," said system Superintendent Eddie Tyler. "I think our elected officials look toward us, I think our state and local officials look to see what we're doing, they reach out, they want to know, and I take that as a proud sign that we're trying to do all the right things."

A new event added to the program last year is the recognition of teachers who received National Board Certification during the year. This year Stephanie Dillon of Daphne Middle School, Sarah Bates of Daphne East Elementary, Cathy Hudson of Fairhope West Elementary and Dianna Wolchina of Baldwin County Virtual Secondary School were recognized.

The Teachers of the Year were announced by Shannon Cauley, Board of Education President, and Tyler who presented the teachers with gift bags. Music was provided by Robertsdale High School's Guitar and Piano, directed by Claudia Bankester. The RHS JROTC presented the colors.

"In the midst of what seems like a year full of the greatest challenges we've seen in decades, you continue to shape and mold, inspire and motivate minds of the students in your charge," Cauley said to the recipients. "You were chosen as leaders among your peers because they believe that you have a beautiful gift and that you deserve to be honored."