Click to view more photos from the event.
Shannon Shanning, Maine’s 2013 Teacher of the Year, joined other semi-finalists at a banquet marking the end of the latest Teacher of the Year cycle on Nov. 2. During the banquet, Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen presented Shanning with a proclamation from Gov. LePage, making Nov. 2, 2012, “Shannon Shanning Day.”
Shanning, a seventh- and eighth-grade special education teacher at Whittier Middle School in Poland, was named Teacher of the Year during a surprise ceremony at her school in September.
Also in attendance were the 2013 state finalists: Kathy Bousquet, a grades two and three looping teacher at Central School in South Berwick; and Beth Switzer, a fourth grade teacher at Coastal Ridge Elementary School in York.
Maine’s Teacher of the Year program showcases excellent teaching and best practices. The Department collaborates with the Maine Teacher of the Year Association to share the expertise of current and past Teachers of the Year with schools throughout the state. Hannaford Supermarkets underwrites most of the cost of this program, with additional support from Bangor Savings Bank.
Shanning will go on to compete in the selection process for the 2013 National Teacher of the Year, who will be announced in April 2013 at the White House.