The principal of Liberty Middle School in Southwest Marion County, Melissa Forsyth, was named the 2021 Marion County Principal of the Year. She became the principal there in 2017, after serving as an assistant principle for several years. Three years after she joined the district in 2005, she was named Marion County's Rookie Teacher of the Year.
Marion Oaks Elementary's assistant principal, Rebecca Miller, was named the county's Assistant Principal Of The Year for 2021. She joined the district in 2010 as a teacher at South Ocala Elementary. She later worked at Fort King Middle and Ward-Highlands Elementary before joining Marion Oaks.
Forsyth and Miller now advance to the state-wide competition for Florida's 2021 principal and assistant principal of the year.