Staff voting for Teacher of the Year closed March 27, with the winner to be announced tomorrow. The finalists for Teacher of the Year are English teachers Dondi Hinds, Nathaniel Brayton, Kayla Cain, and Judith Ann McGhee, Life-Academics teacher Becky Veroneau and US History and A/V Production teacher Justin Reeves.

“I have never been nominated for Teacher of the Year before,” Veroneau said. “I feel blessed to be able to shine a light on an area that I feel so strongly about; Life-Academics is a class that people don’t often think about.”

Despite being narrowed down to the final six, some finalists have expressed admiration for their fellow teachers, all of whom they feel are equally deserving of the title.

“[I’ve] been nominated in the past, but never been a finalist,” McGhee said. “I am truly touched that my colleagues feel like I’m worthy of this—I feel the same way about many of them.”

McGhee also emphasized that despite the role of a teacher remaining a constant, the academic environment of today is a different one than that of the past.

“Teaching post-COVID is a different job than it used to be,” McGhee said. “[Every] single teacher in every single classroom deserves a round of applause [for it].”

Even in this, some finalists have also come forward stressing the importance of seeing every individual as an equal, citing how one event could entirely change one’s outlook on life.

“It’s so important to do to other people as you want them to do to you,” Veroneau said. “Sometimes I see other people [being] unkind to someone with a disability. We should all remember that we are one accident, injury, [or] stroke away from having a disability ourselves… There isn’t a person on [this] planet that doesn’t have abilities and disabilities [of their own].”

For many, the title represents not only their standing amongst fellow staff members, but also their dedication to the work of educating the next generation.

“I love seeing kids succeed,” McGhee said. “[I love] teaching them just as they’re entering the world as young adults.”

Veroneau said she strives to help every student to be as independent as possible.

“[I hope] that every student understands their value as a human being,” she said.