This year's finalists are :


SHANEKA BLUE is a fourth-grade teacher at Westwood Heights Elementary School. She has served as a discipline committee member, a book study group member and the chorus sponsor. Ms. Blue has taken advantage of many professional development opportunities to hone her skills and acquire classroom strategies and techniques. Although Ms. Blue has only been teaching for two years, her principal, Mark Narkier, says: "In addition to her exceptional qualities as a teacher, she possesses extremely proficient leadership skills...is a very creative individual who takes initiative to seek out programs and opportunities for students." Ms. Blue says that her philosophy of teaching begins with the premise that all students can achieve when afforded an opportunity and support through a non-threatening environment and meaningful content, which not only meets standards but also challenges students to extend their levels of thinking. Shaneka Blue is a graduate of the University of South Florida.

MARVA M. CHRISTIE-WILKS is a sixth- through eighth-grade English teacher at Westglades Middle School . She has made it her mission to be a lifelong learner and a promoter of education. She says: "Because parents play such an important role in their children's education, I include assignments that encourage parental participation in the classroom." Ms. Christie-Wilks has students place their work on Web pages and then invites parents into the classroom to view and discuss the sites. She is the chair of the school's Language Arts Department as well as a trainer and coach for several professional development programs for teachers. Ms. Christie-Wilks has been a teacher for 10 years. She graduated from Georgia Southern University and has a Master's degree in English and an Education Specialist in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.

CARLEEN KISMETH COOTE , teaches sixth- through 12th grade English at Hallandale Adult Community Center . She is committed to strengthening herself as a teacher, coach and mentor through continuous learning. She utilizes the Paideia method - a research based Socratic teaching model - in her classroom and has helped other teachers to do the same by becoming the school's Paideia coordinator and providing training and coaching to her colleagues. Ms. Coote conducts action research in her classroom to investigate the degree to which Paideia practices and principles have improved her students' critical thinking skills inside and outside the classroom. She is well traveled, having lived for more than 16 years in Jamaica, teaching for five years in Singapore, studying for two years in Thailand and traveling extensively in Europe, Australia and Asia. She graduated from State University of New York at Buffalo and received a Master's degree from Michigan State University.

BONNIE YVONNE GOLDSTEIN has been the media specialist at Cypress Elementary School since 2001, and is truly a Broward County success story. In 1976, she was a school volunteer and was named as a Volunteer of the Year by the District. She went on to become a paraprofessional in the classroom and in 1997, received her degree in elementary education from Nova Southeastern University. She continued her studies and has received Master's and Educational Specialist degrees from NSU. Prior to becoming a media specialist, she taught an Emotionally Handicapped Cluster class, including kindergarten through third-grade students. Cypress Elementary is a Title One school, with 78 percent of students on free and reduced lunch and the second largest number of students for whom English is not their first language. Ms. Goldstein has involved parents in helping their children learn with a program she designed called, "Everybody Reads," which is available in English, Spanish, French Creole and Portuguese.

SANDRA M. JACKSON has been a teacher for 32 years, the past two and a half as a resource teacher at Oakridge Elementary School . Her philosophy is that children will make immense gains in learning if the curriculum is adjusted to fit their needs rather than "teaching the books." Ms. Jackson evaluates test data and students' work to drive the curriculum in reading and writing. She has developed methods and strategies that have resulted in fourth-grade writing scores increasing from a 2.8 to a 3.7 on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. This year she initiated an FCAT Skills Night for parents in order to have them better informed about the skills needed to be successful on the FCAT. Ms. Jackson received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Georgia College at Milledgeville.

JENNIFER McGONIGLE-COLLINS teaches six classes (spanning Levels One through Three) of American Sign Language (ASL) at South Plantation High School . Her program is one of the largest ASL programs in the county. She has developed a countywide curriculum that enables all teachers of ASL to hold their students to high standards. Ms. McGonigle-Collins is also an interpreter for the deaf and hard-of-hearing. Her teaching philosophy is simple - unwavering high expectations result in high success. She has developed numerous strategies for keeping her students engaged in learning and engages in a variety of teaching methods. The success of the program is exhibited by a high percentage of students passing and advancing to ASL levels three and four. Ms. McGonigle received a degree in Educational Interpreting from the University of South Florida.

SUSAN M. WILCOX has been an elementary school teacher nearly four decades and has seen many changes since she began teaching third grade in 1965 (back then, her beginning salary was $4,700.)   Ms. Wilcox, who teaches at Sheridan Hills Elementary School , has adapted and evolved through continuing education courses, in-service training and national and state conferences. She has also participated on numerous committees and been a mentor and coach to new educators. Susan believes the backbone of learning is reading so she provides many motivational reading programs for her fifth grade students. To integrate reading and writing with technology, her students are currently working on a multimedia project using Mpower. Ms. Wilcox believes students blossom and grow both academically and personally when they are supported enthusiastically. She maintains an atmosphere in her classroom where her students can feel free to express their ideas and share their concerns. Susan Wilcox graduated from Florida State University.