![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/vincent-taylor-michael-steinhardt-Patti-RTF-Bernier-678x381.jpg\" "\\"vincent")
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Winner of 2026 VyStar Duval County Teacher of the Year will be announced | Nearly 180 of Duval County\u2019s most outstanding educators will take center stage at the 35th Annual EDDY Awards on Saturday, Jan. 24, as the community comes together to celebrate excellence in teaching and name the 2026 VyStar Duval County Teacher of the Year\u2014who will go on to represent Duval County in the Florida Teacher of the Year program.<\/p>\n
The EDDY Awards\u00a0Teacher of the\u00a0Year program\u00a0is\u00a0hosted by\u00a0the Jacksonville Public Education\u00a0Fund and\u00a0includes\u00a0a\u00a0year-long effort to celebrate and elevate Duval\u00a0County\u2019s\u00a0best\u00a0public\u00a0school\u00a0educators.<\/p>\n
VyStar Credit Union is once again the title sponsor for the event, providing support and\u00a0recognition\u00a0events throughout the Teacher of the Year process. Deerwood Rotary is credited with elevating teacher recognition in Duval County, making the Teacher of the Year program a flagship project some 30 years ago. Today,\u00a0Deerwood Rotary, along\u00a0with\u00a0Florida Blue\u00a0and\u00a0Deutsche Bank, are\u00a0finalist\u00a0sponsors for the EDDY Awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thankful for our sponsors\u2019\u00a0support of teachers and public education in Duval County,\u201d said\u00a0Rachael Tutwiler Fortune, president of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund. \u201cAt JPEF, we know the impact and importance of having highly qualified teachers in the classroom, and we are delighted to provide an opportunity for the community to thank these outstanding educators for all that they do every day on behalf of students.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Teachers of the Year from all public schools in Duval County will be recognized at the EDDY Awards, the event caps off with the announcement of the 2026 VyStar Duval County Teacher of the Year.<\/p>\n
That individual, selected by a diverse, community-based selection committee, will receive\u00a0a cash prize,\u00a0classroom\u00a0grants\u00a0provided by\u00a0Deerwood Rotary\u00a0and Florida Blue,\u00a0and a new car courtesy of Jenkins Auto Group.\u00a0The honoree\u00a0will also join the Jacksonville Public Education Fund Board of Directors as an ex-officio member for the next year, as is tradition\u00a0for\u00a0every\u00a0VyStar\u00a0Duval County Teacher of the Year.<\/p>\n
The five finalists for\u00a0the\u00a02026 VyStar Duval County Teacher of the Year are:<\/p>\n
Monica Gold, Arlington Middle School<\/p>\n
Michelle Flores, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts<\/p>\n
Dr. Mari Richardson, Jean Ribault High School<\/p>\n
PeTika\u00a0Tave, Reynolds Lane Elementary School<\/p>\n
Valerie Pitts-Wilson, Rutledge H. Pearson Elementary School<\/p>\n
Contact\u00a0Amy Henderson at 404-387-0624 or amy@jaxpef.org\u00a0for more information or\u00a0additional\u00a0photos.<\/p>\n
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About the Jacksonville Public Education Fund<\/p>\n
The Jacksonville Public Education Fund is an independent think-and-do tank that believes every<\/p>\n
student should graduate high school inspired and prepared for success in college or a career and<\/p>\n
life. JPEF serves as a bridge in support of public education,\u00a0activating community support,<\/p>\n
connecting\u00a0partners and\u00a0advancing effective ideas for the success of all students.\u00a0For more<\/p>\n
information:\u00a0www.jaxpef.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winner of 2026 VyStar Duval County Teacher of the Year will be announced | Nearly 180 of Duval…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-126944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}