nominees from nearly 180 schools.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Jacksonville Public Education Fund says that more than half of the students who enter her class have never passed a state exam; however, at the end of the year, 85% end up passing the Biology End of Course exam.<\/p>\n
Dr. Richardson’s career has taken her to many places and roles, both inside and outside of the classroom. Richardson earned a Ph.D. in Public Health Epidemiology and worked for the Tennessee and Florida health departments before finding her place at Ribault.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until 2020, when I began working at Ribault High School as an environmental science teacher that I found what inspired me,\u201d said Richardson. \u201cWorking with students who often face academic and personal challenges, I realized that teaching is not just about delivering content, it\u2019s about building confidence, resilience, and a love of learning. Seeing students who once doubted themselves master complex concepts, lead peer discussions, and achieve success on assessments reinforces my purpose every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The school as a whole has made big strides in the last two years. In 2025, it was one of ten Duval County schools to jump two letter grades \u2014 from a C school to an A school. The school district also earned an A grade for the first time in its history.<\/p>\n
Dr. Richardson’s prize includes cash, classroom grants, and a new car. Like the other honorees before her, she will also join the Jacksonville Public Education Fund Board of Directors as an ex-officio member for the next year.<\/p>\n
With the district title under her belt, Dr. Richardson will now compete for the statewide title.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Richardson\u2019s story is a powerful reminder of why teaching matters,\u201d said Duval County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Christopher Bernier. \u201cShe meets students where they are, helps them to exceed their own expectations, and creates a classroom where confidence and achievement grow together. Her leadership at Ribault High School and her unwavering belief in students make her an outstanding educator and a deserving Teacher of the Year. We are honored to celebrate her and excited to see her represent Duval County at the state level.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four other teachers were named finalists for their contributions in Duval County classrooms: Michelle Flores (Douglas Anderson School of the Arts), Monica Gold (Arlington Middle School), Valerie Pitts-Wilson (Rutledge H. Pearson Elementary), and PeTika Tave (Reynolds Lane Elementary).<\/p>\n
Dr. Richardson succeeds 2025’s honoree, Vincent Taylor, a math interventionist at Cedar Hills Elementary School.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Mari Richardson was announced as Duval’s Teacher of the Year at the EDDY Awards, and will now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-131541","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\/131541","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=131541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}