Teacher of Year finalists surprised on the job
Three of Sarasota County’s finest teachers found out on March 4 that they had won top honors when the Teacher Tribute Tour arrived at their schools bearing balloons, awards and gifts.
Superintendent Lori White, the Education Foundation’s Cindy Kaiser, school board Chair Shirley Brown, school board member Caroline Zucker and a bus full of district leaders, sponsors and past winners traveled to three schools to surprise finalists in the 2010 Teacher of the Year competition.
Winners at the elementary, middle and high school levels received the good news in front of delighted students, colleagues and family members, who were in on the secret.
The first stop was at Sarasota High School, where Melissa Dweck was ushered into a packed auditorium as the curtain rose on the Sailor Band playing a rousing rendition of "Anchors Aweigh." Teachers and students in the audience cheered as White announced that the drama coach had been selected as the 2010 High School Teacher of the Year for the entire district.
(From l.) Superintendent Lori White congratulates Melissa Dweck, 2010 High School Teacher of the Year, as school board member Caroline Zucker applauds. Photo contributed by the Education Foundation.
Dweck’s parents, Joe and Cheri Dweck, handed their daughter a bouquet of flowers while Principal Jeff Hradek congratulated her.
"Not a teacher on this campus better embodies the spirit of our school," Hradek declared.
Dweck began her teaching career at Sarasota High School in 2002 and has been there ever since.
The bus rolled on to Lakeview Elementary, where the Tribute Tour joined all 700 of the school’s students in their outdoor amphitheater to await the arrival of K-5 music education teacher Karen Johns. Escorted to the stage by Principal Joan Bower amid joyful screams, the stunned 2010 Elementary School Teacher of the Year surveyed a sea of waving pompoms.
A colorful "Congratulations Mrs. Johns!!!" banner unfurled behind her as Johns’ husband, Steve, presented her flowers with a hug.
Johns, who has been with Sarasota County public schools since 1990, teaches general music, chorus, advanced recorder and string ensembles in programs reaching all 700 Lakeview students.
"We love Mrs. Johns because she’s always determined to teach us something new," said one of her fifth-grade fans.
The third and final stop for the day was at Woodland Middle School in North Port, where all the students and staff were gathered for an FCAT rally in the gym. The jazz band was winding down, and Seth Gardner was just starting to lead his choir in "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as the Tribute Tour burst onto the scene with Gardner’s wife, Cher, in tow.
Gardner, the 2010 Middle School Teacher of the Year, kept his cool. He accepted his balloons from last year’s winner along with kudos from White and Principal Kristine Lawrence. Then he picked right up where he and the choir had stopped.
Superintendent Lori White surprises Seth Gardner at Woodland Middle School.
"To get to a point like this takes a lot of hard work," Lawrence said to the assembled students. "Mr. Gardner is here for you every day and countless nights, for basketball and volleyball games. So remember this next week and do the very best that you can – just like Mr. Gardner."
A grade 6-7 choir, guitar and emerging technology teacher, Gardner moved to the area from Battle Creek, Mich., three years ago and has been with Woodland since it opened in 2008.
The overall district 2010 Teacher of the Year will be announced at a luncheon on Wednesday, March 24, at 11:30 a.m. at Michael’s on East. The Teacher of the Year will represent the Sarasota County School District at the Florida Department of Education – Macy’s Teacher of the Year program and serve as spokesperson and representative for the teaching profession throughout the 2010-2011 academic year.