NC teacher of the year to be announced


Editor’s Note: It’s not that I was passed over (again). It’s just that I’m so good they can’t do without me for a year.

The 2008-09 AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year was to be announced last night during a recognition dinner and awards ceremony at the Brier Creek Country Club, 9400 Club Hill Drive, Raleigh.

The actual announcement was expected to take place around 8:00 p.m.

Finalists for the award are:

* North Central Region: Paige Elliott, Fuquay-Varina High (Wake County Schools);

* Northeast Region: Sonya Rinehart, John A. Holmes High (Edenton-Chowan Public Schools);

* Northwest Region: Janice Raper, Hurley Elementary (Rowan-Salisbury Schools);

* Southeast Region: Ruth Ann Parker, Clinton High (Clinton City Schools);

* Southwest Region: Bernard Waugh, Kannapolis Intermediate (Kannapolis City Schools);

* Sandhills/South Central Region: Trisha Muse, Page Street Elementary (Montgomery County Schools);

* Piedmont-Triad/Central Region: Cindi Rigsbee, Gravelly Hill Middle (Orange County Schools);

* West Region: Renee Peoples, West Elementary (Swain County Schools); and

* Charter Schools: Freida Baker, East Wake Academy (Wake County).

The AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year will spend the school year traveling the state as an ambassador for the teaching profession. In addition he/she will receive a limousine ride from the hotel to the country club courtesy of Blue Diamond Limousine, a personal automobile, an engraved plaque, a one-time cash award of $7,500, a national conference trip, the opportunity to travel abroad through an endowment at the North Carolina Center for International Understanding, and a technology package valued at over $14,000 from the SmarterKids Foundation. They also will serve as North Carolina’s nominee for the National Teacher of the Year competition.