Manatee and Sarasota County teachers named finalists for Florida Teacher of the Year
The Florida Department of Education named a teacher from Sarasota County and another from Manatee as finalists for the 2023 Florida Teacher of the Year title Wednesday.
Deelah Jackson, a 50-year-old fourth-grade teacher at Samoset Elementary School in Manatee County, and Jennifer Jaso, a 42-year-old sixth-grade social studies teacher at Sarasota Middle School, are two of the five finalists for the state award, and work just 20 miles from one another.
Paul Burns, the FDOE deputy chancellor for educator quality, surprised both teachers in their classrooms to announce the news Tuesday, according to releases from the respective districts.
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Jaso has taught social studies in Sarasota County since August 2007 and won the county's 2022 teacher of the year award. She has also served as the social studies department chair at her school and is a presenter at the National Council for the Social Studies Annual Conference and the Florida Council for the Social Studies Conference.
“There are few who match Jennifer’s content-knowledge expertise, her innate passion for her craft, and her love of, and commitment to, working to educate and improve the lives of children from every background,” said Jennifer Nzeza, principal of Sarasota Middle School, in a release.
Jackson has taught at Samoset Elementary School since August 2015, and in February won the Manatee County Educator of the Year award. She has helped coach the school's robotics competition team and is the site director for the Extended Day Enrichment Program, an after-school program.
"One of my favorite things to do is to recognize and celebrate the amazing teachers we have in the state of Florida,” Burns said in a release. “When we read the information about Ms. Jackson and watched the video about her, we were deeply impressed by all of the hard work she does with her students.”
The only area recipient of the award from this area since the program's inception in 1967 was Edith Smith, of Riverview High School in 1985.
The third finalist announced so far is Seema Naik, a fourth-grade teacher at Eagle Ridge Elementary School in Broward County. She was named Tuesday.
The state will announce the winner of the teacher of the year award on July 14 in Orlando. According to the DOE, Jaso, Jackson and the three other finalists were chosen from nearly 185,000 public school teachers throughout the state.
Each district in the state selects its teacher of the year before a committee representing teachers, principals, parents and the business community reviews each district's application "on the basis of outstanding ability to teach and communicate knowledge of the subject taught, professional development, philosophy of teaching, and outstanding school and community service," the state's news release said.
The winner will serve for one year as the Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota, Manatee County teachers named Teacher of the Year finalists
