St. Johns County Teacher of the Year finalists named

To a chorus of "Bir-bal! Bir-bal! Bir-bal!" R.J. Murray Middle School sixth-grade science teacher Allison Birbal walked out into the school's courtyard Tuesday to learn — with dozens of students, fellow teachers and administrators cheering her on — that she was named one of three finalists for the St. Johns County School District's Teacher of the Year award.

The finalist announcements were no less spirited at each of the other two schools where Alicia (Ali) Pressel and Andrea O'Brien received the news that they, too, were in the running for the 2020-21 award. Pressel is a biology and agricultural science teacher at Creekside High School, while O'Brien is a library media specialist at Durbin Creek Elementary School.

The Teacher of the Year, as well as the Rookie Teacher of the Year, will be named on Jan. 27 at a "virtual watch party," which is taking the place of the traditional gala this year due to COVID-19. The district will conduct "surprise patrol" visits to classrooms later this week to notify Rookie Teacher of the Year finalists.

Birbal said she was caught off-guard and overwhelmed by Tuesday's announcement — in the best way possible.

In her 11th year of teaching, the last two at Murray Middle School, Birbal is known for her relatable style.

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm really a middle-schooler at heart," Birbal said with a laugh.

In her Teacher of the Year application, Birbal explained her approach to education, stressing hands-on exercises as one of the best ways to get students excited. Birbal said she likes to do what she calls "Activity Before Content," which can be something as simple as a rubber-band shooting contest that involves all of a student's senses in a tangible, problem-solving way and also encourages natural inquisitiveness. 

Likewise, Pressel, a National Geographic Certified Educator, employs her "Explorer" program to continue to spark her own personal curiosity as well as that of her students, for example, by working with a professional scientist in Uganda to learn the impacts of ecosystem management to foster wildlife conservation.

In her application, O'Brien emphasized the professional development she's brought back to students to show them how to meaningfully engage with documents, text and evidence and to collaborate with other teachers to employ these techniques in the classroom across a variety of subject matters.

The theme of this year's Teacher of the Year awards is — perhaps, not surprisingly — "The Twilight Zone," as in, how can educators take their classrooms to the "next dimension?"

Donna Lueders, executive director of INK! (Investing in Kids), the nonprofit educational enrichment foundation for the St. Johns County Schools that sponsors the Teacher of the Year awards, said this year was a difficult year in which to choose finalists for the distinction.

"The judges just felt this year it was so hard because every teacher is a 'Teacher of the Year' for doing what they've done, day in and day out, adapting to every change in their classrooms; it's just been unbelievable," Lueders said.