Knox County Schools names its 200 top teachers, honors the Teachers of the Year
Knox County Schools honored nearly 200 of its top educators at the annual Teacher of the Year banquet on Feb. 25.
Teachers representing each school attended the event at the Knoxville Convention Center, and winners were recognized for each grade grouping, according to a KCS news release.
Recipients were nominated by their peers and selected using the Tennessee Department of Education's guidelines for Teacher of the Year.
Districtwide winners are:
PreK-fourth grade: Ellen Monroe, a speech-language therapist at Inskip Elementary School. Monroe begins her sessions with positive affirmations for students, according to a video the district released.
Grades 5-8: Emily Butterfield, an eighth-grade science teacher at Bearden Middle School. Butterfield said in a video she focuses on "progress, not perfection" in her science classes.
Grades 9-12: Keith Leonard, an English language arts teacher at Fulton High School. Leonard co-founded Fulton's comic and manga club, and now teaches a genre literature course using comic books and graphic novels as a teaching tool, according to a video from the district.
Here is a full list of all winners from around the district, by region and school:
A.L. Lotts Elementary: Monet Crow, Megan Edman, Sherin Linsley
Bearden Elementary: Diane Boles
Blue Grass Elementary: Hillary Hudson
Farragut Intermediate: Sarah Campbell, Stephanie Ott, Cody Sipe
Farragut Primary: Tracy Best, Laura Proffitt, Amy Stackhouse
Northshore Elementary: Carol Giles, Courtney Maynard, Sarah Michalowski
Pond Gap Elementary: Emily Abeles
Rocky Hill Elementary: Samantha Quintero Forstrom, Claire Williams
Sequoyah Elementary: Ashton McNabb
West Hills Elementary: Ashley Flemming, Nicole Wells, Lindsey Kirkpatrick
Bearden Middle: Emily Butterfield, Chase Finley, Taylor Lagan, Savannah Prator
Farragut Middle: Trudy Hopper, Susan Kirt, Hannah Richardson, Marianne Voiles
West Valley Middle: Nicole Alberts, Jody Murphy, Emily Roskop
Bearden High: Colleen Barnett, Kelly Beason, Anne Marie Fine, Anna Saeli, Tim Vacek
Farragut High: Titus Arthur, Angela Breeding, Keely Chamberlain, Al Fontenot , Mitchell Moore, Kristi Ramsey
West High: Kathleen Colbert, Ember Lundy, Dustin Lyles, Dani Sorrells, Jennifer Ufnar
Amherst Elementary: Stacie Dougherty, Nyla Hopwood
Ball Camp Elementary: Robyn Bayne
Cedar Bluff Elementary: Angela Childers, Kelly Schippers, Jennie Williams
Hardin Valley Elementary: Chelsea Gillis, Ashley Moore, Deirdre Kopp Pokrzywa
Karns Elementary: Lori Ford, Meg Grover, Carly Norman, Jaime Woolman
Knox County Virtual: Lindsey L. Cope, Jordan Edwards
Mill Creek Elementary: Emily Human, Gretchen McCord
Norwood Elementary: Diana Noel
Pleasant Ridge Elementary: Kim Dodson
Powell Elementary: Beth Antone, Terry Wright
West Haven Elementary: Jordan Barrow
Cedar Bluff Middle: Abigail Hatala, Kathleen Smith
Hardin Valley Middle: Amy Fields Caldwell, Amy Parisi, Alice Williams
Karns Middle: Natalie Griffey, Lindy McCollam, Stephanie Morse
Northwest Middle: Nicole Duke, Katie Erb, Justin McConnell
Powell Middle: Patrick Davis, Kim Longmire
Hardin Valley Academy: Logan Atwell, Tracey Davis, Rebecca Furman, Laura L. Shands, John Sides, Kayla Webster
Karns High: Phillip Beeler, Paula Kenney, Shawn Knapp, Melissa Mink , Kelli Ochsenbein
Powell High: Diane Carcello, Brittney Franse, Terry Lawlor, Pam Parker
Bonny Kate Elementary: Heather Davenport, Laura Snapp
Carter Elementary: Lindsey Harrell, Melina McMahan
Chilhowee Intermediate: Britney McCarter
Dogwood Elementary: Lisa Brown, Catherine G. Maples
East Knox County Elementary: Abigail Coffey, Beverly Morton
Gap Creek Elementary: Tina Whitehead
Mooreland Heights Elementary: Jenny Holt
Mount Olive Elementary: Stacy Davis
New Hopewell Elementary: Jennifer Willoughby
Newcomer Academy: Clayton Kennedy
South Knoxville Elementary: Jennifer Bowes
Sunnyview Primary: Hannah Robinson
Carter Middle: Annie Hamby, Rachel Morris
South-Doyle Middle: Alfredo Acosta III, Lisa Ison, Paul Smith
Career Magnet Academy: Jamie Clement Scott
Carter High: Scott Bray, Casey A. Brooks, Julianna Chun
L&N STEM Academy: Sarah Elliott
Paul Kelley Volunteer Academy: Melvin Hopewell
South-Doyle High: Emily Frei, Daniel Owen, Susan Reynolds
Adrian Burnett Elementary: Andrew Crowe, Rebecca Petroskey
Brickey-McCloud Elementary: Kayla Jadwin, Amy Renfro, Tracey Walker
Copper Ridge Elementary: Paula Holland, Carla Wilkerson
Corryton Elementary: Erin Gray
Fountain City Elementary: Brigitte McMillan Stair
Gibbs Elementary: Hope Allen, Ronna Gregory, Deborah Hensley
Halls Elementary: Brittney Ogle, Frances York
Inskip Elementary: Cynthia Marvel, Ellen Monroe
Ritta Elementary: Taylor Duncan, Susan Jordan Gilliam
Shannondale Elementary: Julie Sebastian
Sterchi Elementary: Chris Burgess
Gibbs Middle: Brianne Roberts, Bethany Sharp
Gresham Middle: Jere Carman, Bryan Paschal , Sonya Williams
Halls Middle: Joanne Dean, Katie Fine, Paul A. Ramos
K.A.E.C.: Mary C. Lancaster
Ridgedale School: Renee C. Kaisare, Kate Uzubell
Richard Yoakley School: Tracy Eaton
Central High: Tracy D. Kelly, Tracy Pace, Carrie Whaley
Gibbs High: Laura Beal, Melissa Graves, Aaron Large
Halls High: Jim McPhetridge, Erika Neely, Trina Polston
Beaumont Magnet Academy: Hannah Bond, Erin Dunleavy
Belle Morris Elementary: Kelsey Cupp, Earlene Romero
Christenberry Elementary: Karleigh Brockman, Ashley Lynch
Green Magnet Academy: Cara Kirkland
Lonsdale Elementary: Cassandra Altuzar Jamison, Porscha Juanita Settlemyer
Maynard Elementary: Michael A. Rodgers
Sarah Moore Greene Magnet: Natalie Andrews, Antwan Avant Jr., Melanie Ratliff
Spring Hill Elementary: Kimberly Fischer, Wil Turner
Holston Middle: Mary Bee, Karen M. Pallesen
Vine Middle Magnet: Jessica L. Huffaker, Reid L. Jackson
Whittle Springs Middle: Dennis L. Groenke Jr., Marc Anthony Ross
Austin-East Magnet High: Annabelle Barto, Mahongony Chambers, Kara Gourley
Fulton High: Katie Burdette, Keith Wayne Leonard, Beth Nelson, Kimberly Young-Forster
Cedar Bluff Preschool: Jo Parker Lynch
Fair Garden Family Center: Angie Hamstead
Fort Sanders Educational Development Center: Courtney Luttrell
Karns Preschool: Renee R. Sellers
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Schools honors its 2025 Teachers of the Year
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Don't let a vocal minority silence Britain's ancient church bells
There used to be a tradition that ringing church bells would drive out evil spirits. Now it's the bells that are being driven out. The latest set of chimes to fall foul of complainers are in Mytholmroyd. It's a small West Yorkshire village, best known as the birthplace of Ted Hughes. Perhaps it was the bells of St Michael's Church that inspired the late Poet Laureate to write in one of his rhymes for children about a bell's 'clang of mumbling boom'. But that clang was far from mumbling for three residents who said they were being kept awake all night by the chimes, ringing every 15 minutes. A noise abatement order imposed on the bells means they now can't be rung at all, so for the first time in 100 years they have fallen silent. There have been similar ding dongs over church bells elsewhere in the past few years: in both Witheridge and Kenton in Devon, in Helpringham in Lincolnshire, and in Beith in Ayrshire, usually by people saying that chimes through the night in these rural neighbourhoods are ruining their sleep. As someone who lives in a city, used to police helicopters overhead, ice cream vans blaring their tinny tunes, trains rattling past, and crowds of students staggering home at night under the influence of numerous intoxicants, I have to say I do find the noise of the countryside rather disturbing. Here in the city, these noises are part of a constant soundscape. In the country, there is an enveloping silence, but then you will be jolted into wakefulness by a cockerel's piercing crow, or a huge piece of farm machinery rattling past, or a herd of cattle lowing their way to milking. But a church bell chime, surely, is in a minor key compared to these other rural interruptions? For me the sound of bells is, well, music to my ears. Despite the planes flying into Heathrow over my head and the police sirens blaring outside my door, I can still hear the sound of a bell nearby, which rings regularly to mark Divine Office being said in a local monastery as well as the Angelus at noon. On Sundays, a peal of bells sounds out at a nearby church, and on weekday evenings too you can hear the ringing, as the tower captain and his team practise Plain Bob Major or Grandsire Triples or one of those other extraordinary mathematical formulas, known as changes, that make up bell-ringing. But the kind of change we don't want is something so quintessentially English as bell-ringing to disappear because after a few people make a fuss, officialdom steps in. The bells of Mytholmroyd were silenced when just three people objected – but the 1,200 residents who wanted the chimes to continue had their petition ignored. It's a growing pattern: a few complaints put an end to chimes that had been loved by communities for generations. Yet there's more at stake here than bells. It sounds a death-knell for our tradition of going with what the majority want. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Discovery of 300-Year-Old Coins May Prove $17 Billion ‘Richest Wreck in History' Has Been Found
Centuries-old coins have been found by researchers looking into the San José shipwreck, thought to be located in the Colombian Caribbean Sea The wreckage is reportedly worth approximately $17 billion The 150-foot-long Spanish galleon ship was sunk by British warships in 1708Researchers believe they have uncovered coins from a 317-year-old shipwreck, which sank in 1708, containing treasure thought to be valued at approximately $17 billion. On Tuesday, June 10, a study was published in the journal Antiquity, stating that "hand-struck, irregularly shaped coins — known as cobs in English and macuquinas in Spanish — that served as the primary currency in the Americas for more than two centuries," were among the key finds amid the ongoing research into the sinking of the Spanish galleon ship, San José. British warships sank the vessel off the coast near the port city of Cartagena. As previously reported by PEOPLE in March 2024, Colombian authorities had decided to move forward with the recovery of the ship, which had a cargo full of treasure. The Times stated that the Colombian navy had identified a wreck that "appeared to be a good candidate" for the sunken ship in 2015, but noted that "its identity has not been conclusively proven." The 150-foot-long, 64-gun, three-masted ship sank with 600 men aboard while carrying 200 tons of silver and emeralds, 11 million gold coins, and porcelain pottery, Colombian Navy divers said in June 2022, according to ABC News. Only 11 individuals survived the incident. Per The Times, the sunken ship is "the richest wreck in history." The latest study, which included photos of some of the coins that had been found, stated that the wreck was situated "at a depth of 600m in the Colombian Caribbean Sea, a location that requires specialized underwater equipment for research." "The exact number of coins visible on the seabed is difficult to determine due to the dynamic nature of the site, but the cobs identified via high-resolution in situ photography conducted by a remotely operated vehicle have an average diameter of 32.5mm and probably weigh around 27g," according to the study. The results added that markings on the coins helped to identify their authenticity. An "L" indicated that they had been mined in Lima, Peru, while the presence of the number 8 represented the denomination in escudos, the highest value at the time. The coins were also marked with the letter "H', which was the mark of Francisco de Hurtado, the Chief Assayer in 1707. The study said that one coin displayed "a small pellet next to the '8', which is a mark of distinction of the cobs of this assayer." While on another, "three letters 'P. V. A.' can be seen marking the motto expression 'Plus Ultra', or 'Further Beyond' in Latin." "This motto was used on the coins as a reference to the expansion of the Spanish monarchy in the Atlantic. Finally, the year of minting is represented by three digits, 707, meaning 1707," the study tated. "The be clearly made out from the images, but on other coins from the same year and mint these bear a reference to King Philip V, the first Bourbon head of the Spanish monarchy," the study continued. "Most of the gold coins from this period come from shipwrecks." Daniela Vargas Ariza, lead researcher from Colombia's Naval Cadet School and the National Institute of Anthropology and History, said of the findings, 'This body of evidence substantiates the identification of the wreck as the San José Galleon,' per The Times. The recent study said that over the past decade, "four non-invasive campaigns" had surveyed the wreckage, "providing valuable insights into the age and provenance of artefacts found on the seabed." The study's conclusion added, "This case study highlights the value of coins as key chronological markers in the identification of shipwrecks, particularly those from the Tierra Firme Fleet. The finding of cobs created in 1707 at the Lima Mint points to a vessel navigating the Tierra Firme route in the early eighteenth century. The San José Galleon is the only ship that matches these characteristics." Spain, the United States, Bolivian indigenous groups and Colombia have all claimed rights to the shipwreck in past years. But in 2011, a U.S. court determined that the ship was the property of the Colombian state, per ABC News. The Times noted that an American salvage company, Sea Search Armada, had also claimed a share, claiming that it had located the wreck. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. In 2015, then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos spoke at a news conference regarding the shipwreck's initial rediscovery, telling attendees, "This is the most valuable treasure that has been found in the history of humanity," ABC News reported. Since it was sunk by British warships some 317 years ago, the vessel has been remarkably untouched, officials previously said. The Colombian government didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information. Read the original article on People
Axios
11 hours ago
- Axios
How Korean became Virginia's third most-spoken language
Korean is the most commonly spoken language in Virginia other than English and Spanish, per census data out last week. Why it matters: It's one of only two states where that's the case. The big picture: Virginia's Korean population is also the fifth-largest nationwide, reflecting the modern immigration patterns that have contributed to an increasingly diverse state. While the Commonwealth has over a century of Korean history, it wasn't until the 1960s and 70s when Korean immigrants began settling in larger numbers in Northern Virginia. And it would ultimately lead to Annandale becoming Virginia's original Koreatown.
