Cheers erupted from the crowd on Thursday night as Karen Kearney, a science teacher from Buchholz High School, was named Alachua County Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year.
See photos from the event below.
Julie Moore, a parent of one of Karen Kearney’s students, who’s also a friend of hers, hugs her after she was awarded the 2023 Alachua County Teacher of the Year at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. (Xinyue Li/WUFT News)Karen Kearney, the 2023 Alachua County Teacher of the Year, speaks after receiving the award at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Fla., Jan. 26, 2023. “For me, teaching has always been about the students,” Karney says, “I treasure the relationships I grow with my students over the years.” (Xinyue Li/WUFT News)The board of the Education Foundation congratulates Karen Kearney after she was awarded the 2023 Alachua County Teacher of the Year at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Fla., Jan. 26, 2023. (Xinyue Li/WUFT News)Nicole Biener, a colleague of Karen Kearney at Buchholz High School, takes a picture with her after she was awarded the Alachua County Teacher of the Year at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. Biener says that earlier today, she asked her students in class to help her with making the sign. “Dr. KKTG stands for ‘Karen Kearney the Great.’ That’s how I call her. She certainly deserves that award,” says Biener. (Xinyue Li/WUFT News)Colin Nechodom, a 17-year-old senior student of Karen Kearney at Buchholz High School, gives a speech after she was awarded the 31st Annual W. Hughes Teacher of the Year at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Fla., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023. “In her role as a teacher, Mrs. Kearney always goes above and beyond. The least I can do for her is to come here and support her,” says Nechodom. (Xinyue Li/WUFT News)Karen Kearney, a teacher of anatomy and physiology at Buchholz High School, accepts the Alachua County Teacher of the Year Award at Trinity United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Fla., Jan. 26, 2023. (Xinyue Li/WUFT News)
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