May 5, 2025
By: Dwayne Page
The 2025 DeKalb County School District Teacher of the Year is Amanda Goodwin, special education teacher at Northside Elementary School.
Goodwin got a surprise visit to the school Monday for the “John Isabell Memorial Award” presentation by Director of Schools Patrick Cripps, Northside Elementary School Principal Angela Johnson, NES Assistant Principal Beth Pafford, Supervisors of Instruction Michelle Burklow and Randy Jennings, Special Education Supervisor Natasha Vaughn, and Federal Programs Supervisor Dr. Danielle Collins. As part of the honor, Goodwin also received a school bell award, a floral arrangement, and a certificate granting her a day off from school with pay.
“I am really excited, and I appreciate it. I don’t do this on my own. It takes the support of all the teachers here at Northside along with the administration, faculty staff, and students,” Goodwin told WJLE Monday when informed by the administration that she was named DeKalb District Teacher of the Year.
After spending two years as a special education assistant, Goodwin said she fostered a deeper passion for teaching and furthered her education to become a teacher, a position she has held for five years now.
“This is actually my seventh year here at Northside including two years as an assistant. I teach special education as an interventionist for second and third grade,” Goodwin explained. “I started out with a business degree. I had a bachelor’s in business and when my kids went to school I started subbing and really enjoyed it so I became an assistant at Northside in a special education classroom. That started a fire in me to want to be a teacher, so I went back and got a master’s in special education,” said Goodwin.
In addition to the visit with Goodwin, Director Cripps and school administrators paid a call on four other teachers at their schools Monday to present the school level “Teacher of the Year” awards including 4th grade math and science teacher, Cathleen Humphrey at DeKalb West School, 1st grade teacher Allyson Trapp at Smithville Elementary School; Kristen Lynch, special education teacher at DeKalb Middle School, and Dylan Kleparek (Coach K), science/chemistry teacher at DeKalb County High School.
This is the 18th annual Teacher of the Year observance.
“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 Cripps.
Teachers of the Year are selected competitively through five cycles: Building, System, Field Service Core Center Region, Grand Division and State; and from three categories (levels of teaching); Grades Pre-K-4, 5-8, 9-12.
Teachers selected at each cycle receive local recognition and awards underwritten by local sources. State recognition/awards include a banquet honoring the nine State Teacher of the Year finalists and certificates of appreciation from the governor. In addition, the State Finalists and the State Teacher of the Year receive cash awards.
The Tennessee Teacher of the Year Program is designed to promote effective teaching practices by recognizing and rewarding outstanding teachers while encouraging others to join the teaching profession.