March 2, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
A first grade teacher at Smithville Elementary School was named “DeKalb County Teacher of the Year” and received the “John Isabell Memorial Award” Thursday night during the eleventh annual Teacher of the Year banquet at the Smithville First Baptist Church Life Enrichment Center.
The award and a check for $150 was presented to Heather Shehane by Roy Nelson Pugh of Liberty State Bank, a sponsor of the banquet, along with Director of Schools Patrick Cripps and Lori Isabell, whose husband John for whom the award is named, passed away in 2014. John Isabell was a long time educator and former President of the DeKalb County Education Association
Shehane, who is in her sixth year as a teacher, was among five local educators who were recognized during the banquet for being chosen by peers as “Teacher of the Year” at their schools. The others were Shelly Jennings at Northside Elementary School; Cynthia Wilson at DeKalb West School; Suzette Barnes at DeKalb Middle School; and Sara Halliburton at DeKalb County High School. Wilson and her Principal Sabrina Farler were unable to attend due to their commitment to participate in the annual Family Literacy Night at DeKalb West School which was also held Thursday night.
Jennings teaches fourth grade English Language Arts and social studies. She is in her 12th year. Wilson is in her 28th year. She teaches English Language Arts and social studies for the eighth grade. Barnes is in her 9th year of teaching seventh grade Reading/Language Arts and science. Halliburton teaches biology for ninth through twelfth grades. This is her 6th year in the classroom.
Administrators introduced the Teachers of the Year at their schools, remarked on how they deserved the honor, and presented them with a school bell award.
“It is my great honor and privilege to talk about Mrs. Heather Shehane. When you walk into her classroom it is calm. She has high expectations but she gets to know her students right off the bat really quickly. She is moving those students whether they are struggling or really high achievers and meeting their needs. She does an amazing job at Smithville Elementary School. I can say that when her students leave at the end of the school year to go to second grade they are more than ready,” said Julie Vincent, Principal at Smithville Elementary School.
Karen Knowles, Principal at Northside Elementary spoke of Shelly Jennings. “When I first came to Northside we were trying to decide how we were going to partner subjects up. She looked at me and said tell me what you need me to do? What do you need me to teach? She is a huge team player and she has great expectations of her students.”
“The DCHS Teacher of the Year, Sara Halliburton is in her sixth year of teaching and has been a level 5 teacher for the past three years. Her students always have excellent test scores. In 2014 she created the Climate Crew, an organization at the high school to try and better the school in a lot of different ways. They do a lot of things for the teachers and students and the school in general. She serves as a freshman class sponsor, is an instructional team leader, and a graduation coordinator. She makes a difference in the lives of her students,” said DCHS Principal Randy Jennings.
“Some of Mrs. Suzette Barnes’ accomplishments are that she was the 2013 DeKalb Middle School Teacher of the Year, 2014 Best of the Best Teacher, 2015 National Association of Science teacher. She helped build the DMS softball field and outdoor classroom, and started a clothes market for students, leads the local education celebration at school, a student council sponsor and Jr Beta Club fundraiser, and she is over the STEM program and oversees the 21st Century After School Program,” said Amanda Dakas, DeKalb Middle School Principal.
School board members attending were W.J. (Dub) Evins, III, Danny Parkerson, and Jerry Wayne Johnson.
“Our district’s Teacher of the Year program recognizes and honors outstanding teachers in DeKalb County. We applaud teachers who care about our children, who devote their professional lives to enriching the lives of DeKalb students, and who demonstrate exceptional gains in student achievement. We are not just exceptionally proud of our Teachers of the Year, but we are also grateful for all of our educators in DeKalb County,” said Director Patrick Cripps.