FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
H
Happy New Year and welcome back! I
hope you enjoyed your holiday break with
family and friends. Our focus as a district will
always be the children and families we serve, but I
also put great stock in our work family. People are our
greatest asset and we are blessed to have an amazing
team throughout the district. I look forward in the
coming weeks and months to spending time in our
schools and getting to talk with not only students,
teachers and administrators, but also support
personnel and school staff.
I recently had the pleasure of taking part in our
“Prize Patrol” which recognizes our finalists for
Teacher of the Year. The judges are faced with the
daunting task of choosing just a few to be considered
for this honor and I appreciate the effort and care
they put into this process. Please join me in
congratulating the five teachers who will have the
opportunity to become our 2018-2019 St. Johns
County Teacher of the Year: Danny Erb of Pedro
Menendez High School, Matt Ostrowsky of Freedom
Crossing Academy, Natasha Kohlman of Otis Mason
Elementary School, Regan Ashker of Creekside High
School and Joy Dorst of Bartram Trail High School.
These individuals are a great representation of all
of our teachers, and I am in awe of their dedication
and professionalism. It will be my honor to recognize these exceptional finalists, and all of our Teachers of the
Year, at the 38th annual Teacher of the Year celebration Thursday, January 17 at the Renaissance World Golf
Village Resort. The overall winner will be announced at this banquet and will then be included for
consideration as the Florida Department of Education Macy’s Teacher of the Year 2020.
Following our celebration of our teachers we have the opportunity to support the great character we have
in our community with the CHARACTER COUNTS! 6 Pillars 6K/3K Run/Walk Saturday, February 2 at 9 a.m.
beginning and ending at Palencia Elementary School. Online registration is available at
www.racesmith.com/races/CHARACTERCOUNTS.html.
Race proceeds support CHARACTER COUNTS! initiatives throughout the St. Johns County School District.
The run/walk is open to all ages, and the top three winners will be awarded in each of the age categories as
well as the overall male and female finishers. A cash donation will be awarded to the top three schools with
the most registrants. Race participants who preregister will receive a tech t-shirt and other goodies from area
businesses and organizations. At the finish line, each race participant will receive a commemorative dog tag.
There are several other events occurring in the coming weeks which highlight the accomplishments of our
students. The St. Johns County Spelling Bee is Wednesday, January 23 at the FCTC CHARACTER COUNTS
Conference Center; the High School Showcase is at the Renaissance at World Golf Village is January 24 from
3:30-7 p.m. and the school district’s annual Science Fair is Wednesday, February 13 and Thursday, February 14
at the First Coast Technical College (FCTC) CHARACTER COUNTS! Conference Center.
TI M F ORSON , S UPERIN T EN D EN T OF S C H OOL S , S T. JO H NS CO UNT Y SC H OO L DIS TRIC T
S T. JOHNS
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