Wayne County Public Schools issued the following announcement on Apr. 28.
On Tuesday, May 3, Wayne County Public Schools (WCPS) will hold a “Celebration of Excellence” to honor the district’s 2022 Career & Technical Education Middle & High Teachers of the Year, School Counselor of the Year, and Media Coordinator of the Year. The WCPS 2022 Assistant Principal of the Year, Principal of the Year, and Teacher of the Year will also be honored, as well as the finalists for those awards programs. The celebration will be held at Lane Tree Conference Center.
All of the district’s “of the Years” will be publicly announced for the first time at the event. With the first round of interviews complete, finalists for the Teacher of the Year, Assistant Principal and Principal of the Year programs have already been named – one each from the elementary, middle, and high school level. They include:
| Teacher of the Year – Finalists | ||||
| Category | Name | School | Position | |
| Elementary | Jaime Cox | Grantham Elementary | Music Teacher | |
| Middle | Amy Black | Spring Creek Middle | EC Resource Teacher | |
| High | Anton Alston | Charles B. Aycock High | Senior Army JROTC Instructor | |
| Assistant Principal of the Year - Finalists | ||||
| Category | Name | School | ||
| Elementary | Christy G. Straughan-Haley | Grantham Elementary | ||
| Middle | Thomas Presley | Greenwood Middle | ||
| High | Kelly Benson West | Charles B. Aycock High | ||
| Principal of the Year – Finalists | ||||
| Category | Name | School | ||
| Elementary | Antoinette Ward | Meadow Lane Elementary | ||
| Middle | Brian Weeks | Norwayne Middle | ||
| High | Kevin Smith | Southern Wayne High | ||
The district’s Teacher of the Year and the Principal of the Year are part of state and national awards programs. The WCPS Assistant Principal of the Year, CTE Teachers of the Year, School Counselor of the Year and Media Coordinator of the Year are district-level awards programs which represent WCPS locally. Each program has its own nomination and selection process. For the Teacher of the Year, Assistant Principal of the Year, and Principal of the Year programs, a district-level selection committee will interview each candidate to determine the district finalists. A follow-up interview of each finalist will then help determine who is named the “of the Year” for that program. Once named, the WCPS Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year will move on to a regional competition, which is the next stage of the state-level competitions.
Teacher of the Year Finalists
Jaime Cox has 18 years of education service. She started her teaching career as a Music Teacher at Grantham Elementary in 2003, where she has served ever since. Amy Black has nine years of education service. She started her teaching career at Rock Ridge Elementary in Wilson County in 2013. Mrs. Black has been in her current position at Spring Creek Middle since 2016. Anton Alston has 13 years of education service. He started his teaching career at Fair Park High in Shreveport, Louisiana in 2009. Mr. Alston has been in his current position at Charles B. Aycock High since 2012.
Assistant Principal of the Year Finalists
Christy G. Straughan-Haley has 29 years of education service, transitioning to school administration in 2013. Straughan-Haley has been the assistant principal of Grantham Elementary since 2020. Thomas Presley has nine years of education service, transitioning to school administration in 2019. Presley has been an assistant principal at Greenwood Middle since 2019. Kelly Benson-West has 15 years education service, transitioning to school administration in 2019. Benson-West has been an assistant principal at Charles B. Aycock High since 2019.
Principal of the Year Finalists
Antoinette Ward has 31 years of education service, transitioning to school administration in 2008. Ward has been principal of Meadow Lane Elementary since 2021. Brian Weeks has 19 years of education service, transitioning to school administration in 2008. Weeks has been principal of Norwayne Middle since 2018. Kevin Smith has 28 years of education service, transitioning to school administration in 2007. Smith has served as principal of Southern Wayne High since 2018.
Below is the complete list of each school-level Teacher of the Year selected to represent their school in the coming school year:
| School | Teacher of the Year |
| Brogden Middle | Thomas Bonthuis |
| Brogden Primary | Holly Suzanne Benaissa |
| Carver Elementary | Monica Tobe |
| Carver Heights Elementary | Brenda Morrisey-Evans |
| Charles B. Aycock High | Anton Alston |
| Dillard Middle | Janis Hart |
| Eastern Wayne Elementary | Winnie Wong |
| Eastern Wayne High | Casey Mitchell Chase |
| Eastern Wayne Middle | Amanda Holmes |
| Edgewood Community Developmental School | Scott Littleton |
| Fremont Elementary | Camille Frederick |
| Goldsboro High | Stephanie Orosco |
| Grantham Elementary | Jaime Cox |
| Grantham Middle | Timothy Powell |
| Greenwood Middle | Wendy Thomas |
| Meadow Lane Elementary | Randi Michelle Stallard |
| Mount Olive Middle | Tambrietta Williams- Baca |
| North Drive Elementary | Sharese Lewis |
| Northeast Elementary | Tracy Edmundson |
| Northwest Elementary | Kathryn Harris |
| Norwayne Middle | Amanda Dail |
| Rosewood Elementary | Sadie Baldwin Simmons |
| Rosewood High | Kimberly Gagliano |
| Rosewood Middle | Jennifer Coor |
| Southern Wayne High | Trelvia Cromartie |
| Spring Creek Elementary | Melisha S. Carson |
| Spring Creek High | Maria B. Feliciano Oquendo |
| Spring Creek Middle | Amy Black |
| Tommy’s Road Elementary | Bianca Guzman |
| Wayne Early/Middle College High | Aletta Burton |
| Wayne Middle/High Academy | Sheneka Lassiter |
| Wayne School of Engineering | Maya Fulton |
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