These are the nominees for Muscogee County’s 2020 Teacher of the Year
The 2020 Teacher of the Year in the Muscogee County School District will be one of the 56 nominees announced Wednesday.
The Muscogee Educational Excellence Foundation, which conducts the district’s Teacher of the Year program, honored the nominees during a ceremony in Legacy Hall at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts.
Foundation chairman Steve Davis, president of the Columbus Water Works, noted the significance of the venue’s name for this announcement.
“Welcome to Legacy Hall as we build our legacies in education,” he told the crowd. “What an appropriate place, a beautiful place, to celebrate what we’re celebrating today.”
MCSD superintendent David Lewis told the nominees, “It truly is a personal and professional milestone that you’ve achieved, one that distinguishes yourself in your profession but also the fact that you promote the very ideals and principles of the best in teaching.”
Each of the nominees received a voucher for a RiverCenter show. And two of the nominees received an extra gift: seeing one of their former students become a Teacher of the Year nominee along with them.
Stacy Jenkins, in her 24th year at Blackmon Road Middle School, taught Chelsie Rogers sixth-grade English language arts and social studies in 1999-2000. Rogers now is an eight-year educator teaching economics at Northside High School.
Karlyn McConnell, in her 21st year at Columbus High School, taught forensics and human anatomy to Kaveh Felfeli, who graduated CHS in 2010. Felfeli has been an educator for five years, teaching English language arts for the past two years at Hardaway High School.
Jenkins beamed while hearing Rogers say that she still has the poetry book she wrote in her class 20 years ago.
“It means a lot,” Jenkins said. “She was always on top of her game, very studious, very meticulous, very organized. Great student, and those wonderful students stand out.”
Rogers also recalled the unit Jenkins taught about Egyptian history.
“That’s when I fell in love with social studies,” she said. “I will never forget that.”
Rogers credits Jenkins for making the ancient subject come alive by having the students create a “newscast” about that time period. Now, they are colleagues.
“I’m honored to be on the stage with somebody who influenced me like her,” Rogers said. “It just blows my mind that I would be considered on that level.”
Jenkins returned the praise.
“I’m honored that she remembered my classroom and that it touched her in such a way that she decided to become a teacher. It’s wonderful. It does my heart good.”
Felfeli competed on his school’s Science Olympiad team coached by McConnell.
“He was amazing, still is amazing, of course,” McConnell said. “In class, he was engaged. … Every single day, he came in class with a smile. Every single day, he came in class ready to do something.”
That something most often was a hands-on project in McConnell’s class, not just a lecture, Felfeli said.
“She had an unbelievable passion for what she taught,” he said. “She was also really relatable too. She wasn’t condescending, how some teachers might be. She brought the subject down to a level we would understand but still challenged us at the same time.”
To be nominated the same year with one of her former students, McConnell said, “Oh, my gosh, I made a difference. … I think it just keeps that flame alive for me.”
All of which inspires Felfeli.
“Who knows,” he said, “in five, 10 years, I might see a few of the kids I taught on this stage as well.”
The winner will be announced during the foundation’s annual gala May 7.
Here are the nominees, chosen by the staff at their school:
Elementary schools
Allen: Penelope Osborn
Blanchard: Hae Jin Kim
Brewer: Pashion Cooks
Britt David: Lisa Seegar
Clubview: Lara Lasseter
Davis: Chelsea Dial
Dawson: Anissa Alvarado
Dimon: Kathryn Kemp
Dorothy Height: Michele Gore
Double Churches: Jamie Hagan
Downtown: Lawanda Lovett-Cunningham
Eagle Ridge: Shannon Hopkin
Forrest Road: Deborah Wall
Fox: Misha Frander
Gentian: Ann Hancock
Georgetown: Evelyn Graddick
Hannan: Mekiko Ford
Johnson: Joanne Wilson
Key: Jeneka Bennett
Lonnie Jackson: Lucretia Ringer
Martin Luther King Jr.: Tanisha Hemingway
Mathews: Tammy McBee
Midland: Jennifer Bussey
North Columbus: Kellie Henderson
Reese Road: Sicily Coleman
Rigdon Road: Dominique Scott
River Road: Lisa Elliott
South Columbus: Deirdre Howell
St. Marys Road: Carrie Abercrombie
Waddell: Tara Lewis
Wesley Heights: Mendy Maynard
Wynnton: Brandy Crosby
Middle schools
Aaron Cohn: Rachel Fahnestock
Arnold: Nichole Glozier
Baker: Ma’Shanda Burch
Blackmon Road: Stacy Jenkins
Double Churches: April Davis
East Columbus: Dell King
Eddy: Courtney Hudgins
Fort: Alexis Wright
Midland: Heather Jay
Richards: Deborah Rhodes
Rothschild: Sandra Hardeman
Veterans Memorial: Mollie Hoffman
High schools
Carver: Mario Nazien
Columbus: Karlyn McConnell
Hardaway: Kaveh Felfeli
Jordan: Amittia Smith
Kendrick: Willie Washington
Northside: Chelsie Rogers
Shaw: Felicia Gunn
Spencer: Tomacia Johnson
Others
AIM (alternative school): Edna Murray
Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts: Kelley Taylor
St. Elmo Center for the Gifted: Meredith Urquhart
Woodall Center (special education): Wendye Melzar
Selection committee
Retired educator Tom Hackett, formerly Phenix City Schools superintendent and Columbus State University provost, is chairman of the 2020 MCSD Teacher of the Year selection committee. Other members are:
- Carl Brown, insurance broker, owner of C. Brown & Associates
- Bridget Downs, assistant dean for community outreach at CSU
- Rita Ellis, managing partner at Key 2 Wall Street
- Spencer Garrard, retired CSU education professor
- Melanie Gouine, 2018 MCSD Teacher of the Year
- Donovan Granville, district manager for Social Security Administration
- Sheryl Green, 2015 MCSD Teacher of the Year
- Shane Larkin, 2017 MCSD Teacher of the Year
- Bridget Markwood, education consultant
- Marquette McKnight, CEO of Media, Marketing and More, executive director of MEEF.
- Ty Webb, water resource engineer at Barge Design Solutions.
MEEF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering educational excellence by focusing on teachers who are innovative and exceptionally effective. In its 24-year history, the foundation has awarded more $2.6 million to such educators through the Teacher of the Year and Harvard Fellows programs and other grants.
IF YOU GO
What: Muscogee County School District 2020 Teacher of the Year gala.
When: May 7, 6 p.m. reception, 6:45 p.m. dinner, followed by the announcement of the winner.
Where: Columbus Convention & Trade Center ballroom, 801 Front Ave.
Tickets: $50, on sale starting March 21 at RiverCenter for the Performing Arts box office, 900 Broadway.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 4:00 PM.
