Seen.
All three Alachua County Teacher of the Year finalists used this word to describe how the honor made them feel.
Metcalfe Elementary School music teacher Dwynette Smith was named the 2024 Alachua County Teacher of the Year on Thursday. The Education Foundation for Alachua County Schools hosted the ceremony at Trinity United Methodist Church.
“Overwhelmed does not even seem like the proper English word to describe this,” Smith said. “I’m so honored. I’m humbled. I feel seen. And that’s amazing. It’s what I hope my kids feel when they come to me.”
Although Smith’s career did not begin in education, music has always been a part of her life. Originally from New York, she was introduced to music by her elementary school music teacher, Ms. Zipper. She said Zipper’s joy for music is what inspired her to pursue her passion.
“I’m able to impart my joy,” she said. “My joy is music. My joy is giving music to others. My joy is watching children make discoveries about themselves.”
From leading an ensemble at her high school to giving private lessons to students in college, Smith’s journey teaching music started at a young age. Even before becoming an elementary school teacher, she shared her love of music with people of all ages from preschoolers to seniors.
“I’ve had many careers, but it’s one of those things where I think God has always been pointing me in the direction of music.”
Her student, Faith Turner, said Smith takes every opportunity to teach everyone about music.
“You can always hear Ms. Smith’s speaker from down the hallway,” she said.
Metcalfe Elementary School Principal Christiana Robbins said she appreciates how Smith’s heart is fully invested in teaching.
“She is very ambitious,” Robbins said. “I have to kind of reel her back in sometimes because she has big eyes, big dreams. She just wants to do everything.”
As a music teacher, Smith is an advocate for including the arts in the school curriculum.
“I want the community to continue to support music education, arts education, education in general,” she said. “Teachers need all the support we can get.”
Jenifer Knowles, the high school finalist, teaches science at the Professional Academies Magnet at Loften High School. The middle school finalist, Sarah Rendek, is a reading teacher at High Springs Community School.
Knowles comes from a long line of teachers, but originally thought she would go a different route, she said. After working at a summer camp, she saw how rewarding working with kids was and decided to pursue a career in education, she said.
“It’s those years later, students that come back and say how meaningful their experience was in my class,” she said. “Those make it worthwhile.”
Rendek has been teaching for more than 13 years but originally thought she wanted to work in healthcare. She supports her students inside and outside the classroom by building intentional relationships and getting to know them as humans, she said.
“One of the amazing things about being a teacher is that you get 180 days with those kiddos,” she said. “You get 180 days to get to know them as the little or big beings that they are.”
Jayne Moraski, the executive director of the Education Foundation, said the foundation prioritizes celebrating the hard work teachers pour into the classroom.
“They help build the foundation of our community by what they do for kids every day,” Moraski said.
Accepting the award at Trinity United Methodist Church brought back a wave of emotions, Smith said. Twenty-three years ago she said “I do” to her husband in the same hall where she was named Teacher of the Year.
“He’s the reason I’m here,” she said.
Her husband, Wesley Smith, is also an educator, teaching online classes at Sante Fe College and in-person classes at Buchholz High School.
“As inspiring as she is to her students, she’s that way at home, she’s that way when she’s interacting with other people,” he said. “It’s naturally who she is.”