Golden Apple Awards Banquet 2011 – Finalists and Teacher of Year Announced

News 12 has made a commitment to telling positive stories about teachers in our area. And tonight, that commitment paid off for several local educators. Over the last school year, we teamed up with Bi-Lo to profile 30 educators. Parents and students nominated all of them. And tonight, marked our annual Golden Apple Awards banquet.

Finalists Suzan Bradford, Melody Hilty, Jonathan Parker and Ashley Wilbur all received $250 Bi-Lo Gift cards. Their schools also received $125 dollars.

And Brian Kyle of McMinn County High School won the honor of being named the Golden Apple Teacher of the Year. "I’m just very pleased. I’m shocked. I didn’t expect this to happen tonight, and uh, I think it’s a great statement for our high school. We have a wonderful high school at McMinn. Our kids are great. The administration, the other teachers there are wonderful. So I think that anything good that can happen to our school, it’s great for the whole community of McMinn county, Athens".

As Teacher of the Year, Brian Kyle wins a $2,600 Bi-Lo Gift card, and the respect of his peers. His school also earned a $500 check.