Photos by Jon Anderson
Carol McLaughlin Lincoln Clark
Greystone Elementary School second-grade teacher Carol McLaughlin is among eight finalists for Alabama's 2018-19 Elementary Teacher of the Year, while Berry Middle School science teacher Lincoln Clark is among eight finalists for Alabama's 2018-19 Secondary Teacher of the Year. Both also are in contention for Alabama's overall Teacher of the Year for 2018-19.
Two Hoover teachers are among the “sweet 16” finalists for Alabama’s 2018-19 Teacher of the Year award.
Carol McLaughlin, a second-grade teacher at Greystone Elementary is one of eight finalists for the Alabama Elementary Teacher of the Year, and Lincoln Clark, a science teacher at Berry Middle School, is one of eight finalists for Alabama Secondary Teacher of the Year.
They are representatives for the state school board’s District 3.
Other finalists for Alabama Elementary Teacher of the Year are:
- Nadine Lynch, St. Elmo Elementary School in Mobile County
- Brittney Duncan, Wrights Mill Road Elementary School in Baldwin County
- Meghan Allen, Minor Community School in Jefferson County
- Jennifer Parten, Thomasville Elementary School
- James Wilder III, Odenville Middle School in St. Clair County
- Rachel Pucko, Northport Elementary School in Tuscaloosa County
- Donna Holderfield, John S. Jones Elementary School in Etowah County
Other finalists for Alabama Secondary Teacher of the Year are:
- Janice Kinard, Fairhope Middle School in Baldwin County
- Blake Busbin, Auburn High School
- Lisa Gaines, Homewood Middle School
- Zestlan Simmons, Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery County
- Ashley Nicole Holmes, Falkville High School in Morgan County
- Robin Thompson, Florence High School
- Stephanie Smith, Buckhorn Middle School in Madison County
These 16 finalists were chosen from among more than 170 teachers of the year selected by individual school districts across the state. A committee put together by the Alabama Department of Education will narrow the field down to the “final four” contenders before the Alabama Teacher of the Year is named at a ceremony in Montgomery on May 9.
McLaughlin is in her 27th year as a teacher and her 11th year as a second-grade teacher at Greystone. She began her career as a reading teacher for Winfield City Schools in Marion County for four years and since then has taught first, second and third grade.
All of her career has been in Alabama schools, except one year as a third-grade teacher in Pennsylvania, according to her resume.
She was Winfield City Schools’ Teacher of the Year in 2005 and Greystone’s Teacher of the Year both this year and in 2006. The Greystone Parent Teacher Association also named her its Teacher of the Year in 2008 and 2015. She was certified by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards in 2008.
Clark is in his 23rd year as a science teacher and his 18th year at Berry, according to his resume. He began his teaching career in 1995 at Meadowbrook Middle School and then Walker Middle School in Orlando.
Clark was hired at Berry Middle School in 2000. He has served as a mentor teacher in the UABTeach program and is a licensed trainer in argument-driven inquiry and a facilitator for the Hoover school district’s Engaged Learning Initiative, which incorporates technology into instruction.
Clark also served as the head coach on the Berry girls golf team from 2001 to 2016 and was named the Metro South Conference Girls Golf Coach of the Year in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. He also has served as defensive coordinator for the eighth-grade football team at Berry since 2002.
