Lake County's own Tammy Jerkins beat out four other finalists to win Macy’s/Florida Department of Education Teacher of the Year on Thursday night. Five finalists were chosen from a group of 73 teachers. It's the first time a Lake County teacher has won the award.
- Leesburg High School teacher Tammy Jerkins is Teacher of the Year
- Jerkins is from Leesburg; graduated from Leesburg High School
- Jerkins now Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education
Jerkins has been teaching math at Leesburg High School for 13.5 years.
Jerkins graduated from Leesburg High School in 1977 and says two of her former teachers inspired her to follow in their footsteps.
"This is the only school where I would want to teach. This is my school, I'm a yellow jacket at heart. I grew up one street from this school -- my parents still live there," said Jerkins.
"I love my students. When they enter this classroom, they're mine and I want to help them not only enjoy and learn mathematics because I love math, but I really want to help them on their journey," she said.
The awards gala was held at Hard Rock Live at Universal Studios. Gov. Rick Scott and his wife, Ann, presented the award to Jerkins.
Jerkins won $25,000, a $1,000 Macy's gift card and a trip to New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and for the next year -- will tour the state as the Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education.
Jerkins, a two-time breast cancer survivor, says she will donate some of the money to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
The other finalists were presented with a $17,535 check from the Florida Department of Education and Macy's:
- Katelyn Fiori from Vero Beach Elementary in Indian River County
- Exceptional education teacher Diego Fuentes from the Hillcrest School in Marion County
- Michael Miller from Kissimmee Elementary in Osceola County
- Mathematics and AVID teacher Vanessa Ko from Palm Harbor Middle School in Pinellas County
Each of the finalists’ schools received a $1,000 check.