Teacher of the Year Finalists!
2024–2025
🏆 AUTUMN ACKERMAN
Autumn has devoted eight years to teaching WCPS students. In 2020, she was honored as the Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee Teacher of the Year. She recognizes the importance of providing students with a combination of classroom instruction and hands-on experiences to help provide the essential skills and knowledge necessary for success after graduation. She says, "As a special educator, I recognize the importance of differentiation in my instruction to effectively meet the diverse needs of my students. After careful review of my students' Individualized Education Plans, I prepare my instruction to accommodate their specific instructional supports to ensure they are receiving the necessary assistance to succeed both in the classroom and in vocational settings."
🏆 BRITTANY COLLINS
6th/8th Grade English Language Learners Teacher at Springfield Middle School
Brittany has been impacting students as a teacher for 13 years, including eight with WCPS. In addition to supporting her fellow teachers as a curriculum and professional development leader, she works to build connections with her students and their families by planning parent nights and volunteering at PTA/PTO events. She says, "My message to teachers and students is to accept all for who they are and to remember that everyone has the potential to learn something new. As an English as a Second Language teacher, I'm more than my students' teacher. I am their nurse, counselor, secretary, librarian, school mom, and friend."
🏆 CARLY SHOCKEY
2nd Grade Teacher at Emma K. Doub Elementary School
Carly has been teaching at WCPS for a decade and was an integral part of the development of a program that provides students in the magnet program at Emma K. Doub Elementary with an opportunity to engage in 50 minutes of isolated computer science instruction each week. "As WCPS responds to the Maryland Blueprint, it is essential that educators prepare to be part of the initiation and implementation of changes in schools," Carly says. "Strong leadership in schools can initiate change, but it takes strong teachers to help implement the change in the classroom."
🏆 ASHLEY STOTELMYER
Gifted and Talented Educator at Sharpsburg Elementary School
Ashley is a National Board Certified Teacher who has been serving WCPS students for 16 years. "Teaching is about making connections with students. It is about knowing who they are, not just what they know," she says. "This philosophy allows me to connect with students and ignite their passions through relatable and valuable classroom experiences." Ashley is committed to her own professional growth and invests in other educators by presenting at professional development workshops, co-leading the GATE curriculum writing team, and mentoring new GATE teachers.
🏆 ANGIE STOUFFER
Science Teacher at Smithsburg High School
Angie has spent her entire 18-year career with WCPS and is a National Board Certified Teacher. She was a 2023 Teacher of the Year nominee and is deeply committed to helping her students grow both inside and outside of the classroom. Angie says, "I think all students have the ability to succeed. It is my job as a teacher to foster their success and provide support and opportunities for them to shine. Each of my students comes to me with their own story and own experiences and I feel it is my job to take all of that into account when providing instruction." Angie is involved in numerous school and community activities including Youth United, the student volunteer division of the United Way of Washington County, and the Education Foundation of WCPS.
🏆 STEPHANIE TWIGG
4th/5th Grade Magnet Teacher at Williamsport Elementary School
This is the sixth consecutive year Stephanie has been nominated for the Teacher of the Year Award. She has taught at WCPS for 11 years and was recognized this year with a Teacher Accomplishment in Gifted and Talented Education Award presented by the Maryland Advisory Council on Gifted and Talented Education. She says, "Teaching is a career in which we have to be devoted to our students' success first and foremost! We have to be there for them through it all....the good and the bad. We have to support them, coach them, guide them, remind them, celebrate them, and sometimes cry with them. We have to be a source of inspiration, comfort, hope and strength."