As teachers returned to their classrooms Monday to get ready for another academic year, three of them were in for a big surprise.
The first day back also coincides with the Cobb County School District’s announcement of grade-level 2025 Teacher of the Year honors, and one of them works at a school in East Cobb.
Amanda Dillard of Pope High School, a special education teacher, was named the district’s High School Teacher of the Year during an assembly visited by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, who made the announcement.
“Every day when I come into work, I hope that I can make a difference in at least one student’s life,” Dillard said in a district release, describing her daily perspective. “Each day, I hope I can connect one-on-one with at least one student to make their day better. I bring a lot of positive energy and positive vibes to our environment here. I try to bring the fun!”
She said she enjoys the family atmosphere at Pope and that “I feel very supported in my work. I don’t think there’s anywhere else that supports their employees the way Cobb does.”
Dillard, who also is Pope’s e-sports coach, is among the hundreds of Cobb teachers in the Georgia’s BEST program, which provides Cobb teachers with free graduate degree programs through the State University of West Georgia.
She will be a finalist for the 2025 Cobb Teacher of the Year, which will be announced this fall. The other candidates are Caleb Garrett of Compton Elementary School and Lakeisha Grange, a math teacher at Betty Gray Middle School.
Teachers are selected by their colleagues as their individual school’s teacher of the year, before being considered for grade-level recognition.
“The Teachers of the Year are the ‘superstars,’ but it takes the entire team to make our District successful,” Ragsdale said. “It is always so great to see all the other teachers at a school gather around and support the winner. You get to really see the team approach.”
The first day of the 2025-26 school year is Monday.
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