DECEMBER 11, 2024 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC, Director of Public Relations
352.671.7734 w ◊ 352.840.3265 c
[email protected]
Golden Apple Teacher Class of 2025 Announced Alongside School-Related Employee Honors
Marion County’s 2025 Teacher of the Year Finalists and
Rookie Teacher of the Year Revealed
MARION COUNTY – Seven top teachers in Marion County Public Schools (MCPS) received Golden Apples today during surprise classroom visits, the most ever in a single year.
Six of those seven are now finalists for Teacher of the Year.
The Public Education Foundation of Marion County orchestrates the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program annually and honors one newcomer teacher as the Rookie Teacher of the Year and another worker as the District’s School-Related Employee of the Year.
An entourage including Superintendent of Schools Dr. Diane Gullett, Marion County School Board members, Foundation Executive Director Meghan Magamoll, and others, surprised all recipients starting before 8 a.m. and continuing for more than 120 miles through the day.
Golden Apple recipients and finalists for Marion County’s 2025 Teacher of the Year include:
Dunnellon Middle School – Joel Kunz, who teaches history and has spent his entire teaching career — 14 years — in MCPS classrooms.
Eighth Street Elementary – Jennifer Aderholt, who teaches Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten students. She joined MCPS in 2016 and has 20 years of classroom teaching experience.
Madison Street Academy – Sarah Burfening, who teaches fifth-grade math and science. She joined MCPS in 2015 and has 19 years of classroom teaching experience.
North Marion Middle – Joan Edwards, who teaches mathematics and has spent all 11 years of her teaching career in Marion County classrooms. She joined MCPS in 2013.
Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary – Kristen Wilson, who teaches fourth grade math and science and joined MCPS back in 2003, spending her entire teaching career in local classrooms.
West Port High – Sarah Jacobs, who teaches English to ninth and 10th grade students. She has 12 years of teaching experience including the last four in MCPS.
While at Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary, this year’s entourage also surprised second-year teacher Courtney Morris by naming her Marion County’s 2025 Rookie Teacher of the Year. Morris joined MCPS two years ago and, like all rookie teachers, has no more than three years of classroom teaching experience.
MCPS also handed out its School-Related Employee of the Year honor to Franchesca Jimenez, a discipline clerk at Liberty Middle School. She has worked at Liberty for two years and was nominated for “consistently fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment and is always willing to help others and fill in where needed.”
The six Golden Apple recipients — a record for the PEFMC, Rookie Teacher of the Year, and the School-Related Employee of the Year will all participate in the Golden Apple Gala on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at 7 p.m. at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala. The event airs live on the Marion Education Channel and is livestreamed on the district’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/MarionCountyK12).
At the Gala, one of the six finalists will be named Marion County’s 2025 Golden Apple Teacher of the Year and drive away in a new, pre-paid, three-year leased Acura Integra from Jenkins Auto Group.
For more information, contact Executive Director Meghan Magamoll with the Public Education Foundation of Marion County at [email protected] or 352.671.4167.
Joel Kunz, Dunnellon Middle, Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Finalist
Jennifer Aderholt, Eighth Street Elementary, Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Finalist
Sarah Burfening, Madison Street Academy, Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Finalist
Joan Edwards, North Marion Middle, Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Finalist
Kristen Wilson, Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary, Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Finalist
Sarah Jacobs, West Port High, Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Finalist
Courtney Morris, Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary, Marion County 2025 Rookie Teacher of the Year
Franchesca Jiminez, Liberty Middle School, MCPS 2025 School-Related Employee of the Year
# # #