PANAMA CITY BEACH — Beth Piccolo was named Bay District Schools 2015 Teacher of the Year at a ceremony Tuesday night at Wyndham Bay Point.
Piccolo is the Marine Corps Junior ROTC teacher at Mosley High School. She has been teaching for four years, all in Bay County, and this was her first time as a nominee.
She was one of five finalists from an initial field of 38 teachers. As the winner, Piccolo received several prizes, including $250 from the Bay Education Foundation and $500 from the Panhandle Educators Federal Credit Union.
“I only thought I’d win this if it were a physical challenge,” Piccolo said.
Piccolo thanked her peers at Mosley, among others. Bay County is a patriotic community that wants a Junior ROTC program, she said.
Mosley Principal Sandy Harrison, in a letter of recommendation for Piccolo as Teacher of the Year, said she had “earned the respect and admiration of both her students and her peers.”
Harrison added that Piccolo improved Junior ROTC program in her first year at the school. Piccolo ensured female cadets who don’t have a dress for the Marine Corps ball or proms got a dress, according to Harrison.
C.E. Delair, regional director of the Marine Corps Junior ROTC, said Piccolo is a “loyal, dedicated, intelligent individual of utmost integrity.”
Delair rated Piccolo as among the top 5 percent of Marine instructors in the region.
According to Piccolo’s résumé, she increased annual scholarship funds for the Junior ROTC program by 40 percent in her four years there. She also performed more than 60 community outreach events annually.
Piccolo is a retired Marine, having served from 1985 to 2008. During her time in the military, she said she received the Meritorious Service Medal and Global War On Terrorism Service Medal, among other distinctions. She also was chosen as the Mosley’s Teacher of the Month in March of 2013.
The other finalists were Jeff Skipper of J.R. Arnold High, Catherine Rutland of Rutherford High School, Kristen Samples of Merritt Brown Middle School and Jenny Cimato of Deer Point Elementary School.
All nominees received cash and gifts from local businesses and organizations, including the Panhandle Educators Federal Credit Union, the Bay Education Foundation, Horace Mann Representative Wendy Varnum and the Association of Bay County Educators.
Bay District Superintendent Bill Husfelt said teachers deal with things the general public doesn’t know about, and that they can be a bright spot for children.
Judges for the event were 2014 Teacher of the Year Alison Beck, Naval Support Activity Panama City representative Lynda Brown, The News Herald Editor Mike Cazalas, parent Joy Noble, Merritt Brown Middle School Principal Charlotte Marshall, retired principal Fred Goodwin and ABCE representative Cynthia Been.
Piccolo will advance to the Florida Teacher of the Year competition. Holding her trophy, Piccolo said the Junior ROTC program was at Mosley because of the cadets, who are “awesome” when they are out in the community. Those students might defend the country against ISIS in the future, said Piccolo.
“This is not mine. This is the team’s,” Piccolo said of her trophy and her student’s involvement in the award.