Two Grayson Teachers Among 25 Semi-Finalists For Teacher Of Year

GRAYSON, GA — Two teachers from Grayson schools are among 25 semi-finalists for 2020-21 Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year.

The Grayson semi-finalists, announced Tuesday, are:

• Ferdye Bamaca of Grayson Elementary School — 1st Grade Teacher
• Courtney Smith of Trip Elementary School — Music Teacher (Grades K-5)

The other 23 semi-finalists are:

DACULA

• Melissa Barth of Harbins Elementary School — 2nd Grade Teacher
• Stephanie Malley of Dacula Elementary School — 3rd Grade Teacher
• Yvonda Thomas of Alcova Elementary School — Gifted Education Teacher (Grades 1-5)
• Heather Thorpe of Fort Daniel Elementary School — 5th Grade

DULUTH

• Kelley Donovan of Coleman Middle School — Humanities Teacher (Grade 6)
• Dr. Leslie A. Dunham of McClure Health Science High School — AP Environmental Science, AP Physics, and Physics Teacher (Grades 11 and 12)
• Whitley Arens Parker of Duluth High School — Special Education Teacher – Autism Spectrum Disorder (Level 4) and Interrelated Resource (Grades 10-12)

LAWRENCEVILLE

• Kinsley Compton of Lovin Elementary School — Spanish Teacher (Grades K-5)
• Dr. Kinsey Edwards of Crews Middle School — Orchestra Teacher (Grades 6-8)
• Julianne Purnell of Five Forks Middle School — Health Teacher (Grades 6-8)

LILBURN

• Lena Alonso of Lilburn Elementary School — Special Education Teacher – Interrelated Resource (Grade 5)
• Olivia Boza of Knight Elementary School — 2nd Grade Teacher
• Dr. Jessica Ewalt of Berkmar High School — AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, and AP Research Teacher (Grade 12)
• Kelsi Carter Hamilton of Trickum Middle School — Language Arts Teacher (Grade 8)

NORCROSS

• La’Bria Hannah of Graves Elementary School — 3rd Grade Teacher
• Philip Peavy of Paul Duke STEM High School — Cybersecurity and Game Design Teacher (Grades 10-12)

PEACHTREE CORNERS

• Kelly Sibley of Peachtree Elementary School — Reading Recovery and English to Speakers of Other Languages Teacher (Grades 1-3)

SNELLVILLE

• Mona Brawley of Partee Elementary School — STEAM Teacher (Grades K-5)
• Danielle Swaby of South Gwinnett High School — Work-Based Learning Teacher (Grades 11 and 12)

SUGAR HILL

• Katie Blum of Sugar Hill Elementary School — 2nd Grade Teacher
• Kristy Shea of White Oak Elementary School — 1st Grade Teacher

SUWANEE

• Genny Greco of Riverside Elementary School — 3rd Grade Teacher
• Angelika Shelley of Northbrook Middle School — Social Studies Teacher (Grade 6)

The group of 15 elementary, five middle, and five high school teachers was selected from an initial list of 139 local school Teachers of the Year, who were nominated by colleagues at their schools.

The top teacher and semifinalists will be named on Dec. 10 when the Gwinnett County Public Schools holds a virtual celebration honoring the winners.

RELATED: Teachers Of The Year Named In Gwinnett County Schools