Haley Brown thought she was bringing her Pine View School art students to an assembly about bullying Friday morning.
Instead, she found herself full of joy and tears surrounded by Sarasota County School District leaders, her family and students. Brown, a middle school art teacher and high school drama teacher at Pine View, was recognized as the district’s Middle School Teacher of the Year for 2024 at a surprise ceremony on Friday.
She was one of three Sarasota County teachers honored with a district-wide 2024 Teacher of the Year award. Ronnique Major, a fifth-grade teacher at Booker Elementary, and Dennis Pinna, a history teacher at North Port High, were also recognized Friday morning.
The three winners are also finalists for the district-wide Teacher of the Year award to be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 13. The district winner will compete for the statewide award next spring.
In accepting the award, Brown thanked Pine View’s students, faculty and staff she credited for the recognition.
“Every single day so many guys go above and beyond what’s expected of you and you make me so proud to be here every single day,” she said, holding back tears.
Ceremonies accompany Teacher of the Year honors
The Sarasota County School District and the Education Foundation of Sarasota County rode in a charter bus across the county filled with School Board members, district administrators, foundation employees and Superintendent Terry Connor.
“We are excited to celebrate this year’s Teacher of the Year finalists,” Connor said. “These teachers have made a tremendous difference in the lives of their students and colleagues. Teachers are the cornerstone of a student’s learning journey, and we are thankful for all of our teachers and the daily investment they make to enhance the potential of their students.”
The bus made surprise stops at each of the teacher’s schools to announce the awards — flowers and compliments in hand.
First, the bus drove to North Port High School to give Pinna his 2024 High School Teacher of the Year award. Pinna thought he was attending a professional development session with his social studies colleagues, but was instead met with a gymnasium filled with social studies students, the school’s orchestra and cheerleaders who performed as he entered to receive his award.
Pinna, who is from Italy and has been teaching in North Port for six years, thanked the School Board, administrators, district leaders and students.
“Students, all of you, I would not bere here if it wasn’t for you who supported me,” he said.
After a trip to Pine View to honor Brown, the caravan traveled to Booker Elementary to celebrate Major, the 2024 Elementary School Teacher of the Year. A group of her students, various school faculty and Major’s family waited outside of her classroom as she was led outside.
Shouts of “surprise” and the bangs of confetti filled the halls of Booker Elementary as emotion flooded Major, who has been teaching for more than 30 years.
Surrounded by her students, Major emphasized the importance of public education in her remarks following receipt of the award, noting that she was a product of Sarasota County Public Schools.
“I have always said, ‘I’m only as strong as my community,'” she said. “I am so grateful for my community for always supporting me no matter what I’m doing; in the classroom, outside the classroom, mentoring students at school or in the community.”
Follow Herald-Tribune Education Reporter Steven Walker on Twitter at @swalker_7. He can be reached at sbwalker@gannett.com.
