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Burke County Public Schools honors teachers and staff with district awards
Summary
The Burke County Public Schools board recognized multiple educators and staff for the 2024–25 year, including the beginning teacher of the year, principal of the year, CTE teacher of the year, Exceptional Children educator of excellence, and several schools for academic growth.
The Burke County Public Schools board opened its meeting by recognizing a slate of educators and school staff for district awards and academic growth.
The board presented the 2025–26 Beginning Teacher of the Year award to Ms. Hartman of Drone High School, highlighting her ties to the district as a graduate and her emphasis on hands-on biology instruction. Caroline Johnson was named Principal of the Year after a competitive nomination and interview process; the board noted she will represent the district at Region 7 competitions and potentially at state levels.
Superintendents and administrators also presented awards for outstanding secondary staff, including Christie Airwood for a Western North Carolina STEM fellowship and Keisha Bowman as the district’s secondary math teacher of the year; Bowman will be recognized at the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference in November. Christy Ward of East Burke High School was named Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year for her work in family and consumer sciences. Mrs. Dia Heffner was honored as the district’s Exceptional Children Educator of Excellence for work at Heritage Middle School.
Board representatives listed multiple schools that met or exceeded state growth measures for the 2024–25 school year; Halliburton Academy was singled out for moving from an alternative model to the highest category in that model.
The recognitions were presented without contested debate and the board thanked awardees and the district staff who nominated them. The board also noted district-level investments in principal and finance staff professional development.
