Beaufort County schools get creative to surprise teachers, support staff of the year
Beaufort County School District announced each school’s teachers and support staff of the year Monday, in another tradition that’s been changed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Normally, those announcements take place at schools, or at a breakfast for support staff — but this year, principals had to get creative. They visited staff homes, came to schoolwork packet pick-ups or took to Zoom to make the announcements.
Teachers of the Year were selected by their peers, according to criteria established by the schools, the South Carolina Department of Education and the district’s Teacher Forum.
The schools’ Teachers of the Year will be eligible for District Teacher of the Year honors next fall. The current District Teacher of the Year is Bluffton High School math teacher Michelle Gordon.
“The current school shutdown has demonstrated to all of us how important teachers are and how difficult their jobs are,” Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said at Tuesday’s school board meeting. “We thank you and appreciate your hard work, your determination and your creativity during this unprecedented emergency.”
Support staff — social workers, school nurses, bookkeepers, office managers, teacher assistants, school secretaries and technology and data specialists — also were selected by school staff and will be eligible for District Support Staff Person of the Year. The current District Support Staff Person of the Year is Okatie Elementary School kindergarten assistant Kari Dollar.
School | Teacher of the Year | Support Staff of the Year |
Battery Creek High | Roderick Williams | Rebecca Wright-Washington |
Beaufort Elementary | Carmalita Lawton | Susan Gresham |
Beaufort High | Jonathan Miller | Reginald Jones |
Beaufort Middle | Scott Lopatka | Charles Brown |
Beaufort-Jasper ACE | Sam Carpenter | Catherine Pape |
Bluffton Elementary, ECC | Ashley Whitman | Dani Pennell |
Bluffton High | Katlyn McCormick | Sandy Bedosky |
Bluffton Middle | Cathryn “Cat” Floyd | Lakeisha Lofton |
Broad River Elementary | Laura Boozer | Bertha Alston |
Coosa Elementary | Marjorie Isley | Melissa Harmon |
H. E. McCracken Middle | Kristin Stevenson | Vanessa Smallpage-Herrera |
Hilton Head ECC | Katie Carroll | Patricia Wagner |
Hilton Head Elementary (IB) | Michelle Taylor | Magdalena Gorczyca-Swidzinski |
Hilton Head Island Creative Arts, Daufuskie Island | Jennifer Backlund | Nilo Rosado |
Hilton Head Island High | Gerson BonillaMatamoros | Amy Morrissette |
Hilton Head Island Middle | James Waechter | Deborah Diaz |
Joseph Shanklin Elementary | Abbie Whitaker | Brandi Siatkowski |
Lady’s Island Elementary | Clayton Wynn | Denise Shuford |
Lady’s Island Middle | Juvonna Chatman-Jenkins | Cindi Riley |
May River High School | Chelsi Klutch | Christine Long |
M. C. Riley Elementary/ECC | Sherri Westby | Laura Vanhouten |
Mossy Oaks Elementary | Andrea Riley | Debra D’Antonio |
Okatie Elementary | Megan DeWeese | Deborah Bush |
Port Royal Elementary | Felicia Horton | Elizabeth Bornscheuer |
Pritchardville Elementary | Julie Markle | Kami Branham |
Right Choices | Jacqueline Fulton | Carolyn Brown |
River Ridge Academy | Justine Vaitas | Kelly Poisson |
Robert Smalls Intl. Academy | Violeta Magnus | Toni Burnsed |
St. Helena Elementary, ELC | Shakira Grimes | Charlesetta Sterling |
Whale Branch E.C. High | Sonia Perez-Roberson | Sharika Green |
Whale Branch El., Davis ECC | Willard Smith | Sherry Gordon-Jones |
Whale Branch Middle | Arsenio Toledo | Sheila Rivera |
Adult Education | Garner Jones | Shakinna Murray |
Transportation | Dorothy Gregory | |
District Office | Doneane Daise Simmons | |
Office of Early Childhood Education | Monique Wallace |