MOUNT DORA TEACHER CHOSEN AS FINALIST FOR TEACHER OF THE YEAR

UPDATED 1/31/2020:  Palmer won Lake County's Teacher of the Year!
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Three deserving teachers were named finalists this week for Lake County Teacher of the Year.  Christine Palmer, an art teacher at Mount Dora’s Triangle Elementary was among them.  

Palmer joined the district in 2011 and has taught art at Triangle for two years. She remembers struggling as a student and being told she was “not the brightest crayon in the box.” Then, she met an 8th-grade English teacher who was determined to help her succeed. That teacher changed her trajectory and inspired her to want to do the same for others. Her goal at Triangle was to make visual arts fun and engaging, especially for students who may have struggled in other areas. 

“I wanted students to look forward to art,” she wrote. “I wanted students who would normally not come to school, to come to school because they had art that day.”   Far from simple free time with coloring, Ms. Palmer offered standard-based instruction and held high expectations for her students. 

“Watching the pride our students had when they saw their amazing art being displayed showed them, and the world, that they were capable of so much more than they originally thought,” she wrote.
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At a celebration on January  30, one of the three finalists will be named Lake’s newest Teacher of the Year and will drive away with the grand prize, a 2020 Hyundai Elantra from Jenkins Auto Group. The Lake winner will go on to compete at the state level for the title of Florida Teacher of the Year.

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, this month, click here.  Discover the area's online entertainment calendar here. Also download the area's free mobile app.  ​