Pinellas educator among five finalists for Florida teacher of the year
Sheâs one of two area educators to get state recognition this week. Hillsboroughâs Zemenaye Harris was named Floridaâs top assistant principal.
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Pinellas teacher of the year, Sarah Painter, who teaches fifth grade at Eisenhower Elementary School, celebrates Thursday with her students moments after finding out she is one of five finalists for Florida Teacher of the Year. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Times ]
Updated May 6
CLEARWATER â The fifth-graders in Sarah Painterâs Eisenhower Elementary School class let out an audible gasp as they watched the adults armed with balloons and posters stream into their classroom.
In January, Johnson told the Herald-Tribune that she loves kindergarten students because everything is new for them.
“They are so honest, so nonjudgmental, they love school,” Johnson said. “It’s such a happy place.”
Johnson creates weekly YouTube videos for her students families, offering tips on how they can reinforce the lessons she is teaching at school and giving them a glimpse of their child’s life in the classroom.
Fruitville Elementary Principal Steven French said Johnson is a master at dividing her class into small groups so she can work one-on-one with a child while the other students work with each other. It’s not easy, and he’ll have new teachers watch her in action to pick up tips.
Mandarin High School history teacher Jim Schmitt was greeted by a few more visitors in his classroom compared to his usual batch of students on Tuesday morning. With a giant banner in hand, Florida Department of Education officials let the veteran teacher know that he was a 2022 Florida Teacher of the Year Finalist.
Schmitt is one of five finalists that were selected throughout Florida out of the state s more than 185,000 public school teachers. Each year, the Department of Education selects finalists from a pool of district Teachers of the Year.
In January, Schmitt who has been in the field for 27 years was named Duval County s Teacher of the Year. He was recognized for his work developing a writing program for at-risk students, writing a $10,000 grant for a school-to-work program and for serving as a standards coach. Before he became a teacher, Schmitt served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy.