Gwinnett County Public Schools officials surprised six of the district’s top teachers in class this week to tell them they were finalists for the Teacher of the Year award.
The “sweepstakes prize patrol,” as the district called it, brought signs, balloons and cameras into the teachers’ classes, surprising them with the honor in front of their classes on Oct. 12.
The finalists are:
- Ebony Flott, Camp Creek Elementary School, 4th grade teacher
- Dr. Doug Doblar, Head Elementary School, math and science teacher (grades 4 and 5)
- Cheri Nations, North Gwinnett Middle School, STEM Teacher (grades 6 through 8)
- John Chvatal, Brookwood High School, AP and gifted biology teacher (grades 9 through 12)
- Michelle E. Jones, Gwinnett Online Campus, math teacher (grades 9 through 12)
- Amy Crisp, Norcross High School, English to Speakers of Other Languages teacher – language arts (grades 9 through 12)
Nations was also honored by the Georgia Department of Education for her "innovative" teaching methods earlier this year.
The six finalists were narrowed down from an initial pool of 138 — one from each school — and then a semifinalist group of 25. One finalist will win the annual Teacher of the Year award on Nov. 9.
