Kathryn Griffin of Banks Elementary School, an educator who sees her work as a teacher also encompassing the responsibilities of a mom, a nurse and a counselor, is the 2023-2024 LCPS Teacher of the Year.

“I love my job, I love my students and I hope it shows,” Griffin said Tuesday night after she was named the winner of the district’s top teaching honor at the annual Teacher of the Year & Employees of the Year Banquet, held at the Lenoir County Shrine Club.

A first-grade teacher at Banks, where she has spent her entire 21-year career as an educator, Griffin is a National Board Certified teacher. She has served as Science Olympiad coach, grade level chair, School Improvement Team representative and beginning teacher mentor. She has presented at a number of state conferences on digital learning and at district writing workshops and served on the LCPS Writing Task Force. She has twice been named the school’s Teacher of the Year.

As LCPS Teacher of the Year, she will represent the district in the regional competition in December. A state Teacher of the Year is chosen from regional winners.

Also honored with the district’s top two annual awards for classified employees Tuesday night were Tameka Roach of Southwood Elementary School, the 2023-2024 Teacher Assistant of the Year, and Anthony Underhill of Northwest Elementary School, the 2023-2024 Non-Instructional Classified Staff of the Year.

In this year’s Teacher of the Year selection process for LCPS, Griffin was chosen in February as one of four finalists, along with Ashley Deaver, an eighth-grade math teacher at Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School; Katherine Hart, a first-grade teacher at Northwest Elementary School; and Leonard Palmer, the band and chorus instructor at Kinston High School.

At the banquet, the finalists were presented cash awards from the Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce and Lenoir County Education Foundation.

The four were chosen from a field of 18 educators named as their school’s Teacher of the Year, based on interviews with a selection committee and a review of the candidates’ written portfolios, including their work history and an essay on their teaching philosophy. All 18 of school nominees were recognized at the banquet, awarded a plaque and praised by Superintendent Brent Williams, who sat in on the selection process as a non-voting member of the committee.

“There is a lot of excellence in this room,” Williams said moments before announcing the Teacher of the Year winner. “One of the things I saw in all the interviews was a focus on relationships. They talked about the content, they talked about the concepts, they talked about getting our kids ready for the next grade level or graduation; but they also talked about our essential mission as teachers – helping impact the lives of young people in positive ways. That’s the superpower of these teachers.”

Williams’ remarks echoed the theme of brief speeches by each of the four finalists that were the heart of the banquet’s program. While touching on their journeys to the classroom – on the people and circumstances that shaped their career choice – they emphasized to the audience of about 260 educators, family members and community supporters the importance of knowing their students as individuals.

From Katherine Hart: “When I think about what teaching means to me, I think about creating a safe place where all students are heard, seen and loved.”

From Leonard Palmer: “My mission is to create opportunities for my students and their future.”

From Ashley Deaver: “My classroom is a nurturing environment and student-centered. I changed my ways of teaching to meet the special needs of my students.”

And from Teacher of the Year Kathryn Griffin: “When I think about being an educator, there’s one word that continuously comes to mind. That word is ‘gift.’ I believe with all my heart that educators have a gift and it’s one that only educators have. Our job is not an easy one and it’s one that requires an educator to be a special person. We pour our hearts and souls into everything we do. How is that a gift? For everything we put into education, we get so much more out of it.

“My little first graders often give me the sweetest treasures, but what they don’t know is what they’ve already given me. They’ve given me the opportunity to be their teacher. We are impacting these kids. I feel like that is our No. 1 job – impacting these children and their lives.”

Kathryn Griffin, a first-grade teacher at Banks Elementary School, accepts her award as 2023-2024 LCPS Teacher of the Year following the announcement by Superintendent Brent Williams, left. Griffin, who’s taught at Banks for 21 years, was honored along with three other Teacher of the Year finalists and all Teacher of the Year nominees from the district’s schools at LCPS’s annual employee recognition banquet Tuesday night.

Kathryn Griffin of Banks Elementary School is the 2023-2024 LCPS Teacher of the Year. She will represent the district in the regional Teacher of the Year competition in December. A state Teacher of the Year is chosen from regional winners.

Finalists for the LCPS Teacher of the Year award were, from left, Ashley Deaver of Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School, Kathryn Griffin of Banks Elementary School, Katherine Hart of Northwest Elementary School and Leonard Palmer of Kinston High School.