MCPSS names 2022-23 Teachers of the Year
On January 20, Mobile County Public Schools recognized its top three teachers of 2023, naming them as the countywide Teachers of the Year and surprising them in their classrooms.
They are:
- Maegan Gayle of Hutchens Elementary, the Mobile County Elementary School Teacher of the Year
- Amanda Delaney of Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies, the Mobile County Middle School Teacher of the Year
- Ava Long of Alma Bryant High, the Mobile County High School Teacher of the Year
Each of Mobile County’s 90 schools selects a Teacher of the Year, who is then nominated for the countywide honor. A committee selected these three winners and will forward their applications on to be considered by the state for Alabama’s Teacher of the Year.
Mobile County Public Schools Superintendent Chresal D. Threadgill expressed his congratulations to the three teachers.
“As Superintendent, it is hard to put into words how proud I am of our MCPSS Teachers of the Year. These individuals embody dedication, perseverance, and overall, love for their students!” he said. “I would like to personally congratulate each teacher of the year, and I look forward to seeing even more ‘EXTRAordinary’ things happening in their classrooms.”
Here is information about each of the Mobile County Teachers of the Year:
Maegan Gayle, who was just named Alabama’s Elementary Science Teacher of the Year, is a National Board Certified Teacher who teaches science to preschoolers, first- and second-graders at Hutchens Elementary. An educator for 10 years, she facilitates hands-on science lessons to 30 classes at Hutchens and implemented the school’s Science Sleuth program. She has also been a facilitator of the school’s Family Leadership Training, the Student Lighthouse Leadership Team, and the Shared Leadership Teacher Action Team and Empowered Instruction Teacher Action Team. She enjoys sharing her love of science with her young students and helping them to understand the world around them. She is LETRS and Nearpod certified. She has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Auburn University.
Amanda Delaney is a National Board Certified Teacher in Literacy who teaches English Language Arts to sixth-graders at Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies. With 22 years of experience in the classroom, Delaney has also taught at several MCPSS elementary schools and has served as a writing coach, technology coach, Project-Based Learning Instructional Coach, and ARI reading specialist. She has been awarded Teacher of the Year at Meadowlake and Mary B. Austin Elementary Schools. She served as vice president of the Metro-Mobile Literacy Council from 2018-2020 and is the current president of the organization. She has assisted in publishing both the Young Authors’ Anthology and the Both Sides of the Bay Literary Teen Magazine for the council for several years. Mrs. Delaney has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Spring Hill College and a master’s degree in education from the University of South Alabama. She is a member of the Alabama Literacy Association and the International Literacy Association. She has presented on best practices in both technology and language arts, including AETC and ALA conferences. Mrs. Delaney strives to teach her students to think creatively and critically, and is passionate about empowering all students with the tools they need to lead successful and literate lives.
Ava Long teaches English at Alma Bryant High School in Irvington. She launched the school’s Writers Guild, a creative writing extracurricular club, and started Bryant’s first school-wide writing contest and poetry slam. Several of her students have been published in local publications. She serves as a mentor to new English Language Arts teachers and was selected by the district to teach ninth-grade English online during the pandemic in 2020. She sponsors the school’s National Honor Society chapter and is the Lead Teacher for Bryant’s prestigious Cambridge International Schools curriculum. Having received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mobile and a master’s degree from the University of South Alabama, Long is in her 10th year of teaching. As an English and writing teacher, her reward is for her students to realize the power of words.
MCPSS has a great track record in the Alabama Teacher of the Year competition. In 2022, William Edmonds of Barton Academy was named Alabama’s Secondary Teacher of the Year. As a teacher at Dawes Intermediate, Chasity Collier was named Alabama’s Teacher of the Year in 2018. As a teacher at Bryant High, David Dai was named Alabama’s top High School Teacher of the Year in 2020. And as a teacher at Hutchens Elementary, Julie Neidhardt was a top four finalist for Alabama’s Teacher of the Year in 2021.
All school-level teachers of the year are pictured below:
