RCPS names 2021 Teacher of the Year finalists

CONYERS, GA– Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) has announced the top three finalists for the district Teacher of the Year with surprise visits to finalists’ schools.

The district finalists for RCPS Teacher of the Year are Rachel Fisher of Rockdale County High School; Cayla Hicks of Lorraine Elementary School; and Stacey Homer of Pine Street Elementary School.

Each finalist received a surprise visit at their school by RCPS Superintendent Terry Oatts, Rockdale County Board of Education (BOE) Vice Chairwoman Pam Brown; BOE members Heather Duncan, Sandra Jackson-Lett, Jim McBrayer, Akita Parmer; cabinet members and staff, who commended the finalists.

“As Superintendent of Rockdale County Public Schools, I am ecstatic to be acknowledging this year’s finalists for district Teacher of the Year. I want to congratulate all three,” said Superintendent Oatts.

Each school-level Teacher of the Year is chosen by their peers as an educator who exemplifies the highest levels of their profession and goes above and beyond for their students, colleagues and community. The three district finalists are chosen out of the school-level Teachers of the Year. The RCPS Teacher of the Year Celebration will be held November 9, 2021 where all school-level Teachers of the Year will be honored and the district winner will be named.

Rachel Fisher – Rockdale County High School

Rachel Fisher is in her 21^st year of teaching and has spent her whole teaching career as a Rockdale County High School Bulldog. She teaches a Special Education Self Contained class for students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities and earned a Master of Education degree from Columbus State University.  She is also involved with the special needs Prom planning committee at Rockdale First Baptist and is a member at First United Methodist in Covington where she helped develop special needs Sunday School classes. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, kayaking, tubing with her family – her husband and two teenage daughters – and spending time on the back porch and in the back yard where she has chickens, wild deer, rabbits and hawks.

Cayla Hicks – Lorraine Elementary 

Cayla Hicks is a first-grade teacher at Lorraine Elementary. This is her third year in Lorraine Elementary but her fifth year teaching overall. She started her career with the Teach for America program in a rural town in Mississippi and earned her Master’s degree from Delta State University before returning home to Georgia. She loves being a teacher and seeing the growth that happens in first grade. She adores her dog Nox and all things Disney, especially Disney World, and Minions. She’s excited and looking forward to being an aunt to her soon-to-be-born niece.

Stacey Homer – Pine Street Elementary 

Stacey Homer is a life-long Roadrunner who attended Pine Street Elementary as a student and is now in her 12^th year of teaching at the school. She always knew she wanted to be a teacher. As a young child, she would teach her dolls and stuffed animals and would request teaching supplies such as overhead projector transparencies and markers as Christmas gifts. She taught second grade for 10 years, is currently an Early Intervention Program (EIP) teacher, and recently received her education Specialist degree from Piedmont University. When she is not teaching, she enjoys being active outdoors on the lake, exercising, and spending time with her family, new niece, boyfriend, four cats, two dogs, and two tanks of fish.

RCPS TOTY Finalists 2021

Finalists react to the surprise announcement on September 29, 2021 that they are one of the top three finalists for RCPS Teacher of the Year. Pictured left to right: Rachel Fisher of Rockdale County High School, Cayla Hicks of Lorraine Elementary School, Stacey Homer of Pine Street Elementary. 

IMG_9935 Rachel Fisher

Pictured left to right: RCPS Superintendent Dr. Terry Oatts, Rockdale County Board of Education members Akita Parmer, Jim McBrayer, Vice Chairwoman Pam Brown, Rockdale County High School Teacher of the Year and Finalist for RCPS Teacher of the Year Rachel Fisher, RCHS Principal Dr. Eldridge Powell, Board of Education members Sandra Jackson-Lett and Heather Duncan.

IMG_9781 Cayla Hicks

Pictured left to right:  Rockdale County Board of Education Vice Chairwoman Pam Brown, RCPS Superintendent Dr. Terry Oatts, Lorraine Elementary School Teacher of the Year and Finalist for RCPS Teacher of the Year Cayla Hicks, LES Principal Susan Norton. 

IMG_0015 Stacey Homer

Pictured left to right: Rockdale County Board of Education members Heather Duncan and Akita Parmer, Pine Street Elementary Principal Kim Vier, RCPS Superintendent Dr. Terry Oatts, PSE Teacher of the Year and Finalist for RCPS Teacher of the Year Stacey Homer, Board of Education Vice Chairwoman Pam Brown, Board of Education members Jim McBrayer and Sandra Jackson-Lett.