Teacher of the Year

The Bulloch County Teacher of the Year program is sponsored by the following:

Diamond Level ($15,000+)

• Statesboro Herald (Publishes a series of Teacher of the Year profiles of each of the 15 nominees in the print and online versions of the newspaper, plaques & awards for 15 nominees, hosts annual banquet)

Platinum Level ($10,000+)

• Parker's Fueling the Community Program ($2,000 monetary award for district teacher of the year, $500 for first runner-up, and $250 for each of the remaining finalists and school-level nominees; travel expenses for district teacher of the year to compete in Georgia Teacher of the Year program events including its gala and conference)

Gold Level ($5,000+)

• Bulloch County Schools (Program coordinator, expenses for district winner to participate in state competition, and possibly national competition, and district awards)

Bronze Level ($1,000+)

• Bulloch County Foundation for Public Education (Provides $3,570 in cash awards for 14 school school-level teachers of the year and finalists)
• NFP Insurance Brokerage & Consulting ($1,000 monetary award for district winner)

Criteria for Bulloch County Teacher of the Year

Each spring the faculty of Bulloch County Schools' 15 schools vote for their individual school's teacher of the year. From these faculty-selected nominees, those who are eligible may then apply to be considered for the district-level teacher of the year title. Eligibility is based on these state competition requirements: 

1. Be a certified public school classroom teacher with a valid and current Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) Professional or Advanced/Lead Professional certificate in prekindergarten through Grade 12. Special education, physical education, art, music, CTAE, and JROTC are eligible to apply, along with media specialists; however, speech language pathologists and school counselors are not eligible to apply; 
2. Be a full-time teacher, employed by a public school district who currently spends at least 50% of their contract time teaching students in a classroom setting and will be through at least June 2025 which is the the term of service for the state teacher of the year; 
3. Be a  teacher with a minimum of three years of classroom teaching experience; 
4. Be a teacher who can express  in an engaging and clear way, conveying the classroom experience to a variety of audiences;
5. Be a teacher who is an expert in the field who advances growth for students of all backgrounds and abilities;
6. Be a teacher who builds collaborative relationships with colleagues, students, and families to create a school culture of success;
7. Be a teacher who plays an active and useful role in the community as well as in the school;
8. Be a teacher who deliberately connects the classroom to community to impact student growth and learning.  
9. Be a teacher who is a lifelong learner and teacher leader, who utilizes innovation to create learning experiences within and beyond the classroom; and 
10. Be a teacher who expresses themselves in an engaging and clear way and conveys the classroom experience to a variety of audiences.