Amber Harbin, a 13-year science educator at Forest Heights STEM Academy, is the Little Rock School District's newly selected Teacher of the Year and recipient of the Dr. Marian G. Lacey Educator of the Year Award.
Harbin is now eligible to pursue the state Teacher of the Year title. Harbin follows in the footsteps of the 2019 Little Rock Teacher of the Year, Jeff Whitlow of Don Roberts Elementary, who was a top-four finalist at the state level for the 2020 title, and Stacey McAdoo of Little Rock Central High School, who was selected 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.
Sixty-eight Little Rock teachers were selected by their campus peers to be designated as teachers of the year at their schools and to compete for the district honor in a process that included a rigorous application and selection process by a panel of judges.
School-level winners were Tari Anderson of Otter Creek Elementary, who was named the district's elementary teacher of the year. Jacksie Scott of Horace Mann Middle School was named the middle school winner, and Lynn Smith of Parkview High was the high school honoree.
Porchia Jordan, who is on the staff in the district's child nutrition department, was named the district's Classified Employee of the Year. She is the first to hold that distinction.
The district typically hosts a 600-person evening gala to recognize campus teachers of the year, from whom the overall teacher of the year is selected. However, because of the covid-19 pandemic, the district opted this year for a virtual ceremony broadcast on its Facebook page, on lrsdtv.org and on Comcast Channel 4 and U-verse 99.
Metro on 05/31/2020