The setting and program may have been different than in previous years and the crowd in the room considerably smaller, but that didn't dim the excitement of the evening as Katie Blum had her moment to shine at the district’s annual Teacher of the Year (TOTY) recognition event on Dec. 10. Mrs. Blum, a 2nd grade teacher at Sugar Hill ES, was named 2021 Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year (TOTY) as well as the Elementary School Teacher of the Year. Kelley Donovan, a Humanities teacher at Coleman MS, is this year’s Middle School Teacher of the Year. Philip Peavy, who teaches Cybersecurity and Game Design at Paul Duke STEM HS, is the system’s TOTY at the high school level.
As she accepted her award, Mrs. Blum noted that she “was the little girl who never stopped wanting to be a teacher,” and that love of teaching led her to “this crazy, humbling experience” of being honored as Gwinnett's top teacher. Mrs. Blum reminded the audience and viewers that it's not just about academics. “I believe in the power of relationships and love.” She reflected on the 2nd graders who make up her classroom family—“my tiny humans.” She says, “They are my joy every day.”
The other three Teacher of the Year finalists were Lena Alonso of Lilburn ES, Julianne Purnell of Five Forks, and Danielle Swaby of South Gwinnett HS. The six finalists were chosen from among 25 semifinalists.
This year's event was trimmed down, due to COVID-19 concerns, with the six finalists and their guests attending with a handful of district leaders. However, the ceremony was live streamed by GCPS TV so staff and community members could watch, including the local school TOTYs who were chosen as representatives by their peer. (All 139 TOTYs got a shout out during the evening.)
When students walk into Katie Blum’s classroom, they enter a safe space where curiosity, wonder, critical thinking, and self-efficacy are encouraged and nurtured. She believes that creating a safe and trusting classroom environment where students feel accepted, loved, and supported ensures that students are mentally prepared for creativity, learning, and high-order thinking.
“Although many students may remember little about their 2nd grade year, my students will leave 2nd grade with strengthened abilities to question and think critically, and most importantly, to believe in themselves to succeed,” she says.
Mrs. Blum is committed to making a difference in her students' academic and personal lives and strives to be a culturally responsive educator. She says this is essential in GCPS, one of the country's largest and most diverse school districts. She explains, “Teachers must build much-needed relationships and trust, meet students where they are, create learning partnerships, and intentionally teach through the specific pedagogy in order to develop students from dependent learners to independent learners who are ready for rigorous learning environments.”
Our top teacher started her GCPS teaching career in 2016 at Sugar Hill ES where she taught kindergarten. Later that year, she transferred to Riverside ES where she taught kindergarten, 1st, 4th, and 5th grades. In 2017, Mrs. Blum returned to Sugar Hill where she's found a home in her 2nd grade classroom.
"Throughout my journey in becoming an educator, I was truly blessed to have many teachers and veteran educators guide, mentor, and help shape me to become the educator I am today,” she says. Through her work with the school's Teacher Mentoring Program, Mrs. Blum ensures that others find a home at Sugar Hill and are able to grow and learn as educators. She explains, “Our new teachers have reported that they love having a designated person to go to for advice, a listening ear, and feedback and we have seen great evidence that the collaboration between teacher mentees and mentors is having a positive impact on students.”
Mrs. Blum earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Teacher Education, both from the University of Tennessee. She holds a specialist’s degree in Teacher Leadership from Georgia College and State University.
Congratulations, Katie Blum!
2021 Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year and Elementary School Teacher of the Year
About our level winners…
2021 Middle School Teacher of the Year
Kelley Donovan
Coleman's Donovan selected middle-level winner
GCPS' top middle school educator has a love and passion for collaborating with other educators to enhance or improve lesson plans to benefit students. Kelley Donovan says, “I believe I become a better teacher when I receive feedback and input from other professionals because it inspires me to be better.”
In her classroom, she is “intentional about providing a safe and respectful learning environment for all students so they feel comfortable with taking risks, making mistakes, sharing ideas, and celebrating successes.” One way Mrs. Donovan does this is by exposing her students to books that help them see themselves in what they are reading. She explains, “It is crucial that I open my students’ eyes to different worlds where they can make connections between themselves and characters that look like them, act like them, and think like them.”
Mrs. Donovan joined GCPS in 2012 as a Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Duluth MS. She transferred to Coleman MS in 2016 where she teaches 6th Grade Humanities. Mrs. Donovan has a bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Development from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in Language Arts and Social Studies from Georgia State University.
2021 High School Teacher of the Year
Philip Peavy
Paul Duke's Peavy honored as HS TOTY
As a Cybersecurity and Game Design teacher at Paul Duke STEM, Philip Peavy is in uncharted territory. “Cybersecurity is a new subject around the nation so I develop my entire curriculum,” he says. “I make the content relevant by providing [students with] skills that are authentic to real-world experience.”
Our HS TOTY creates an environment of trust in his classroom, one in which his students thrive and become literal “game changers.” Mr. Peavy understands the importance of getting to know students as individuals and discovering how they learn best. He believes in STEM for all, and wants each student to have a future so bright it “shines” with brilliance. “It is my students who inspire me to be the best that I can be because every day they show up ready to learn and have fun while doing it,” he says.
Mr. Peavy began teaching in 2013, and joined GCPS in 2018 as a teacher of Introduction to Digital Technology and Computer Science Principles at Paul Duke STEM HS. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Middle Grades Education from the University of Georgia and completed his master’s degree in Educational Technology from Boise State University.
Watch the Gwinnett County Public Schools Teacher of the Year Award Ceremony, airing daily at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. from Dec. 14 through Dec. 20. Programming is available on the GCPS TV app for Apple, Android, Amazon Fire, and Roku devices, and on the GCPS TV web page at gcpstv.org.