06 Apr Teacher of the Year 2020
In the midst of 2020, teachers experienced one of the hardest shifts in their teaching style. Classrooms were quickly disrupted at the start of the global pandemic and educators had to convert their messaging and lessons to an online learning environment.
With the events of this year, it made it an extra special year to celebrate the 49 incredible educators we have in the Baldwin County Public School system who were selected by their fellow faculty members. As always, we were blown away by the incredible talent that the applications for Baldwin County Teacher of the Year brought in.
“The faculty at the schools nominated incredible teachers who have gone above and beyond. Once their nominations are complete, a committee makes the final selection for the county teachers of the year,” said Hope Zeanah, assistant superintendent for Baldwin County Public Schools for elementary operations.
Last week, we were honored to host the 2020 Teacher of the Year Banquet for Baldwin County Public Schools, as well as announce our county teachers of the year. These educators become an ambassador for Baldwin County during their year with recognition at community events, as well as speaking engagements throughout the county.
Elementary – Lisa Hood, STEAM Leader,
Fairhope East Elementary
Lisa Hood serves as a STEAM Leader at Fairhope East Elementary School. As a STEAM leader, she is passionate about students developing key problem-solving skills through hands-on STEAM activities. During her 10-year career, she has taught elementary, middle and high school. The reason she became an educator is for her love of children, helping/serving others and learning. Her ultimate commitment is to educate her colleagues, parents and students about STEAM education.
School has always been an extremely important part of her life because neither of her parents attended college. By striving for excellence in everything she does, she holds an education specialist degree in teacher leader, master’s degree in collaborative K-6 and Instructional Leadership, bachelor’s degree in elementary education, an add-on certification in middle school general science and a national board teaching certification. As a teacher leader in Baldwin County, she had the opportunity to lead the first Baldwin County school in Cognia STEAM accreditation. Fairhope East Elementary is the first elementary school in the region to receive this certification.
Hard work and determination is how this 31-year-old has accomplished so much at a young age. Lisa is married to Zachary Hood, Baldwin County Emergency Management agency director, and is a mother to three small boys.
Secondary – Katherine Robinson, 9th and 10th Grade
U.S. and World History at Daphne High School
Mrs. Katherine Robinson has taught U.S. and World History at Daphne High School (DHS) for four years. She is from Pineville, Louisiana, although she has lived in many different places, including New Zealand as a child and London during college. Moving around as a child taught her to enjoy history and learning about new places but while she was completing a semester abroad during her junior year of college, she realized she was passionate about British history and wanted to spend her career teaching students about it.
Before earning her teaching certification from the University of South Alabama, she attended Louisiana College and Louisiana State University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. She also pursued advanced doctoral studies in British history at LSU before realizing her true passion was classroom teaching and decided to earn a secondary-level teaching certificate. She taught at LSU, USA and Saraland High School before joining the DHS faculty and she has loved becoming a part of such a wonderful school and community.
Mrs. Robinson is a cosponsor of Project Outreach (which works to build relationships between special needs students and their non-disabled peers) and a homecoming sponsor. Both of these activities allow her to work toward another passion project: building community within the school and helping to ensure all students, no matter their ability, feel a sense of ownership and belonging to their campus community. While at DHS, she has also worked with National Honor Society, been the Freshman class sponsor and served on numerous committees.
Mrs. Robinson lives in Daphne with her husband, Michael, and her very spoiled dog, Huey. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, traveling and spending time with friends and family.
Congratulations to all of our outstanding educators!
The world is better because of you.
