Volusia Schools Names Teacher of the Year Finalists

Five teachers have been named Teacher of the Year finalists and are now competing for the honor of being named Volusia County School District's 2021 Teacher of the Year. The finalists are:

• Denise Hulette, 8th Grade Science Teacher, Deltona Middle
• Amanda Silva, 8th Grade Science Teacher, Heritage Middle
• Amy Spies, 4th Grade Teacher, R.J. Longstreet Elementary
• Josie Ruth Stumpf, 5th Grade Teacher, Holly Hill School
• Karen Weinrich, 2nd Grade Teacher, Spruce Creek Elementary

Photos of the surprise announcements & headshots of the teachers can be viewed by accessing this link:https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gCUQdHEGUbayM0_NCi24X6LvA-9aVsBO?usp=sharing. In addition, videos are posted on the district’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VolusiaCountySchools/.

Volusia County Schools 2021 Teacher of the Year will be announced at a banquet to be held Friday, January 17, at the Hilton Daytona Beach Ocean Walk Resort. The Teacher of the Year celebration is hosted by FUTURES Foundation for Volusia County Schools and the top-level sponsors are:

• Presenting Sponsor: AdventHealth
• Vehicle Sponsor: Daytona Kia, Daytona Mitsubishi, Diamond Motors & Marine
• Platinum Sponsor: Addition Financial
• Gold Sponsors: Florida Health Care Plans, LEGOLAND Florida, Rhodes + Brito Architects, Space Coast Credit Union, Volusia United Educators (VUE)
• Regent’s Club Members: Cobb Cole, Duke Energy, Florida Health Care Plans, Florida Power & Light Company, Rue & Ziffra
• Chancellor’s Club Members: Addition Financial, Brown & Brown Insurance, Hyatt & Cici Brown, Coloni Family Foundation, Foundation Risk Partners, LPGA

The winner is selected through an application process. Each of Volusia’s schools nominates a teacher (see complete list of names here) who completes an application to vie for the district title. A sub-committee narrows the field from 72 nominees to 15 semi-finalists. The full committee, comprised of parents, business owners, community members, teachers and administrators then read each of the semi-finalist’s applications, selecting the final five. Another sub-committee ranks each finalist after observing them in their classrooms and conducting individual interviews. The winner’s name is kept confidential until the announcement at the banquet.

The district Teacher of the Year will be nominated for the state Teacher of the Year program and will serve as Volusia’s representative of quality education. The current Volusia County Teacher of the Year is Ian Jackson, an AVID teacher (grades 8-12) at Taylor Middle-High.