The Gilmer County Schools System, staff members and students are raking in some final, prestigious awards before the school year comes to a close.
Gilmer High student Raul Avila-Resendiz was selected as Georgia’s 2025 Migrant Student of the Year by the state’s Department of Education. Out of senior migrant students in the county, whose families move frequently for seasonal work in sectors like agriculture, he had the highest overall GPA.
“Being able to recognize Raul for this achievement is exceptional,” Director of Federal Programs Lindy Patterson wrote. “We are proud of his accomplishments and look forward to his future successes.”
Leah Jones, a member of Gilmer High School’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA), was given an outstanding achievement award at last week’s school board meeting. She won at the FCCLA State Leadership Conference and will be competing again at the National Leadership Conference in Orlando this July.
Gilmer FFA’s state champions were recognized as well. A state individual and two winning teams will represent the state of Georgia this fall in Indianapolis at the FFA National Convention.
“I believe this is the first time where we’ve got students competing in three events at the national level, so we’re very proud of the students in our FFA chapter,” program advisor David Bushey said.
The Marketing Plan team is made up of students Adleigh Wingate, Carly Whittemore and Carleigh Bedwell. Michael Bushey will compete in Dairy Production Entrepreneurship Proficiency. The Parliamentary Procedure team includes Madison Hall, Sadie Johnson, Madelyn Davis-Gracie Gaitanoglou, Chloe Prosser, Ava Smith and Emma Kate Bramlett.
Mountain View Elementary’s Laura Sharp was selected as Gilmer’s 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year. From first grade to special education, she’s taught students at MVE for more than 10 years.
“Mrs. Sharp is a determined and caring educator,” MVE Principal Charles Walker read from what one of her colleagues wrote about her. “She has high expectations of her students and will do all it takes for them to reach their goals and expectations.”
Each school recognized their Teacher of the Year at last week’s board meeting with a plaque, where principals spoke highly of them and their impact to students and staff.
While Sharp is MVE’s Teacher of the Year for 2025-26, Ellijay Elementary’s is Sydney Teague and Clear Creek Elementary’s is Jill Chadwick. Laney Henson is Gilmer High’s Teacher of the Year, and Amberley Chandler is selected for Clear Creek Middle. Dawn Gooch is the Mountain Innovation Program’s Teacher of the Year, and for pre-K, it’s Amanda Etzler.
Various district departments awarded plaques to their Classified Employee of the Year. School nutrition named Nancy Shook, facilities named Michael George, transportation named Jeff McClure and the administrative team named Brooke Berry.
Pre-K’s Employee of the Year is Chelsea Potts, Lisa Goggin for EES, Lori Brooks for MVE and Lyndsey Martin for CCE. Kristie Clinard is GHS’s Employee of the Year and CCMS named Lupe Lozano.
Goggin is also the recipient of the GCSS Jacky Morgan Award, named after a Gilmer employee of more than four decades, which recognizes the most outstanding classified staff member of the year.
“Mrs. Lisa reminds me a lot of Mr. Jacky because she’s always knowledgeable, she’s always dependable, she’s always kind, and she’s always there to help,” EES Principal Dr. Melinda Fonteboa shared.
The Board of Education was awarded the Distinction for Excellent Financial Reporting for 2024 by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts. Out of 180 school systems in the state, only 27 received this award, according to Director of Finance Page Reynolds.
GCSS was recognized last week for its innovative efforts to increase proactive school safety awareness, using a data platform called SchoolDog. It allows staff to identify best safety practices and potential safety vulnerabilities, on a daily and weekly basis, to maximize the prevention of crisis events and workplace accidents at school, a press release explained.
“The SchoolDog system has allowed us to more proactively monitor the effectiveness of our security processes,” GCSS Superintendent Dr. Brian Ridley stated. “We are always working to detect vulnerabilities before a crisis occurs. SchoolDog is our solution.”
SchoolDog Solutions Inc. named GCSS as one of the top districts in all of Georgia, in its systemic efforts to collect and utilize proactive and real-time safety intelligence for decision-making. The company awarded the district with a $1,000 check.