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All of the finalists at Monday's celebration were hailed as a "champion for children."
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Montgomery County Public Schools named its Teacher of the Year on Monday.
At the celebration, this year's finalists were all hailed as a "champion for children." But there could be only one winner, and it was Shannon McKenzie.
McKenzie is a child development teacher at Clarksburg High School.
The school district says she's been an educator for 23 years and teaching in Montgomery County Public Schools for seven.
In her second year at Clarksburg, the school district says she has rapidly grown the Child Development program, more than doubling enrollment in the second year. Forty-one students were enrolled in Child Development courses the first year, and by the next year, 95 students were enrolled.
The Clarksburg program – the Coyote Pups Preschool Program – serves 12 families. Colleagues praise McKenzie for creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom. She arranges mentorships to encourage homegrown high school students to become teachers themselves.
As Teacher of the Year, McKenzie will get a cash prize and a one-year car lease from Fitzgerald Auto Malls.
McKenzie was one of three finalists for Teacher of the Year, along with Megan Anderson, fifth grade teacher at Chevy Chase Elementary School, and Eunju (April) Moon, sixth grade English teacher at Ridgeview Middle School.
She will go on to compete for Maryland Teacher of the Year.
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