Henrico’s Top Teachers – 2021

Welcome to the 10th (mostly) annual edition of the Henrico Citizen’s Henrico’s Top Teachers section. We had to skip 2020 because the pandemic threw our usual timeline for this section off course, but we’re back this year to highlight the work and efforts of 20 outstanding teachers in Henrico County from the pre-K through high school levels.

Since we started this section in 2011, we now have profiled 200 Henrico teachers – each with a story as unique, impressive and meaningful as the teachers themselves. Each year, we receive dozens upon dozens – and sometimes hundreds – of nominations from readers in honor of teachers they’ve had, or their children or grandchildren have had. Colleagues and administrators often make nominations, too.

We intentionally limit the honorees each year to no more than one from any given school, but often that means omitting a number of worthy candidates.

The truth is, there are countless teachers in classrooms throughout the county doing extraordinary work this year and every year. We’re proud to recognize 20 of them who are exceedingly deserving each year, but we hope that their stories also provide a better understanding of the stories of those we can’t profile who also are deserving of recognition.

We started this section because most teachers don’t often receive public recognition for what they do, and we wanted to change that (even though we realize it's not the reason they enter the profession in the first place). Each year, this section is our most-read of the year, and through the comments and social media shares and retweets that follow, our readers demonstrate the impact these teachers have had upon so many lives.

There’s never been a school year quite like this one, as teachers, students and families adapted first to a new form of virtual learning and then teachers in many cases adapted to a hybrid model of teaching in-person and virtual students concurrently.

Every year is a new challenge for educators, but none so more than this one – a year that began with teachers, students and families adapting to a new form of virtual learning and then morphed into a hybrid combination of in-person and virtual learning for teachers to navigate.

To each teacher – whether at public, private, preschool or daycare – we say thanks. You’ve earned a salute from the Henrico community.

Now, we invite you to meet Henrico’s Top Teachers’ Class of 2021; click each name to read more:

Hannah Barbosa, Henrico HS, biology
Laura Becker, Laburnum ES, early childhood education
Spencer Billet, Highland Springs HS, history
Karen Dash, Crestview ES, KG
Ara Duszak, Short Pump MS, math
Nicolle Farrar, Greenwood ES, third grade
Amy Ferry, Highland Springs ES, first grade
Yael Fletcher, Trevvett ES, fifth grade
Jocelyn Henry-Whitehead, Baker ES, four-year-old program
Kirkland Jackson, Tuckahoe MS, band
Kellen Jones, JR Tucker HS, special education
Maria Kirtley, Springfield Park ES, fourth grade
Catherine Latcovich, Deep Run HS, history
Donche Lewis, Starling International Childcare and Learning Complex
Ricky Mallory, Pinchbeck ES, PE
Elise Matsuura, Kaechele ES, second grade
Allison Reed, Harvie ES, fourth grade
Antonio Relyea, Johnson ES, fourth grade
Karen Shrader, Nuckols Farm ES, fourth grade
Crystal Tabib, Pocahontas MS, math