District Newsroom

VCS Announces Top Five Finalists for the 2023-2024 Teacher of the Year

DELAND – On December 5th and 6th, Superintendent Dr. Balgobin along with district staff, cabinet members, and board members surprised five teacher nominees with the news that they were selected as finalists for Volusia County School District’s Teacher of the Year. The five finalists are:

Dodi Gaines, Facilitator Cambridge AICE, Seabreeze High School
Tamika Harvard, Math Coach, Westside Elementary School
Valerie Marcus, Fifth Grade Teacher, DeBary Elementary School
Vonda Morris, Probability & Statistics / AP Statistics Teacher, Spruce Creek High School
Cassandra Stewart, Media Specialist, R.J. Longstreet Elementary School

Volusia County Schools Teacher of the Year will be announced in January at a celebration hosted by the FUTURES Foundation. 

The Teacher of the Year winner is selected through an application process. Each of Volusia’s schools nominates a teacher, who completes an application to vie for the district title. The full list is here: https://bit.ly/3uAMZlq

A full committee, comprised of parents, business owners, community members, teachers, and administrators, selects the five finalists. Another sub-committee will rank the finalists after observing them in their classrooms and conducting individual interviews. The winner’s name is kept confidential until the announcement at the celebration in January.

The VCS Teacher of the Year will be nominated for the state Teacher of the Year program and will serve as Volusia’s representative of quality education. Madison Miller is the current Teacher of the Year for Volusia County Schools. She is now an Assistant Principal at Palm Terrace Elementary School.