Golden Apple winners announced in Lee County. Here are the teachers who won

Nikki Ross, Fort Myers News-Press
·3 min read

Six Lee County teachers were surprised in their classrooms Thursday as Golden Apple winners.

"I say this every year it underscores the importance of teaching," said Marshall Bower, president and CEO of the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, who led the bus trip that went around the county in a prize-patrol fashion to announce the winners.

"We entrust these wonderful teachers with the lives of our most precious asset, our children, who truly are our future. The whole community needs to say thank you to our teachers and that's what today is all about."

The Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program was created by the foundation to help enhance and enrich public education by recognizing and rewarding excellence in teaching, according to a press release. Over the past 36 years, 195 teachers in Lee County have received a Golden Apple.

The six winners were chosen from 30 finalists by the foundation's Golden Apple Selection Committee, made up of community and business leaders.

The winners each receive a check for $3,000 from the foundation and their school gets $500 to be used for the students.

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Here's a list of the winners and what they had to say about their surprise:

Luis Fisher, Gateway High School

Luis Fisher, a secondary music teacher at Gateway High School in Fort Myers, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Luis Fisher, a secondary music teacher at Gateway High School in Fort Myers, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

School: Gateway High

Grade/subject: Secondary Music

“It means the world to me,” Fisher said. “It’s my first major award as a teacher. It validates a lot of the things that I do, a lot of the struggles I go through reaching students. It just lets me know I’m on the right track.”

Fisher said everything he does is for his students.

“I do this for my students, for the love of my students, for the love of a job that I do,” Fisher said. “I love being a musician. I love being a music educator.”

Tamara Hunter, Franklin Park Elementary

Tamara Hunter, a peer collaborative teacher at Franklin Park Elementary School in Fort Myers, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Tamara Hunter, a peer collaborative teacher at Franklin Park Elementary School in Fort Myers, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

School: Franklin Park Elementary

Grade/subject: Peer Collaborative

"Everything I do is for my community and my kids," Hunter said. "People always poured into me. I have a family of people that pour into me constantly and it's so amazing to see the whole community out here to pour into me and my kids."

Laura Jordan, Caloosa Elementary

Laura Jordan, a peer collaborative teacher at Caloosa Elementary School in Cape Coral, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Laura Jordan, a peer collaborative teacher at Caloosa Elementary School in Cape Coral, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

School: Caloosa Elementary

Grade/subject: Peer Collaborative

"I'm feeling over the mountain because our county is full of such amazing teachers and I'm just a combination of every one that I've come across within the district," Jordan said. "It's just a lifetime goal of mine to be a teacher and to be recognized as a teacher"

Lindsey Maxwell, Bayshore Elementary

Lindsey Maxwell, a fifth-grade teacher at Bayshore Elementary School in North Fort Myers, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Lindsey Maxwell, a fifth-grade teacher at Bayshore Elementary School in North Fort Myers, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

School: Bayshore Elementary

Grade/subject: Fifth Grade

"I am completely overwhelmed," Maxwell said. "This has been my goal since I started teaching. This has been my achievement that I've been waiting for."

Joni Pelletier, Treeline Elementary

Joni Pelletier, a teacher of ESE autism spectrum disorder at Treeline Elementary in Fort Myers was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Joni Pelletier, a teacher of ESE autism spectrum disorder at Treeline Elementary in Fort Myers was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

School: Treeline Elementary

Grade/subject: Exceptional Student Education teacher/Autism Spectrum Disorder

"I'm really proud of my kids, my school. There's a lot of amazing teachers here," Pelletier said. "So it's really nice to put the school out there and my kids, especially special needs classes are really challenging. It's just really nice to have their voices out there."

Stephanie Yanik, The Sanibel School

Stephanie Yanik, a middle school math teacher at The Sanibel School, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.
Stephanie Yanik, a middle school math teacher at The Sanibel School, was awarded the Golden Apple on Thursday, March 16, 2023.

School: The Sanibel School

Grade/subject: Middle School Math

"It means so much to me just to be nominated to begin with and to be recognized by the community and to be able to have the foundation support teachers like this is phenomenal," Yanik said. "It's been an absolutely wild year, we've moved, we've had a lot of adversity, but we overcame it and we stayed together and we're stronger for it."

The six teachers will be honored at the black-tie affair Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Banquet held at Caloosa Sound Convention Center and Amphitheater on Friday, April 14.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Lee County teachers surprised with Golden Apple awards in classrooms