A total of ten finalists are in the running for a teacher of the year award.

The teachers up for the Outstanding Teacher Award, organised by the Bermuda Education Network, were nominated by colleagues and the educational charity asked parents, pupils and teachers to help the judges decide.

Becky Ausenda, BEN’s executive director, said: “We recognise that all the island’s teachers, in both the public and private systems, deserve special thanks given the challenges of the 2020 school year.

“The finalists inspired their colleagues with their approach to remote learning and commitment to ensuring that their students had access to engaging learning opportunities despite the restrictions of the pandemic.”

She added: “We are now entering the exciting phase where our nominating committee will choose the overall winner and we hope to hear from parents, students and teachers about these finalists and their accomplishments.”

Sponsorship from insurer and reinsurer Allied World means all the finalists will get a cash prize and the winner will also be given a grant for a school project of their choice.

Colm Singleton, the head of Allied World Bermuda, told the finalists: “Your commitment and contribution to public education in Bermuda is exceptional – 2020 highlighted for all of us the incredible work that you as teachers do every day and Allied World is honoured to celebrate you and support BEN in their effort to improve education across the island.”

This year’s finalists are:

•Stephanie Correia, Port Royal Primary School

•Dean Foggo, Clearwater Middle School

•Andrea Isaac, St. David’s Primary

•Troy King, The Berkeley Institute

•Kendra Lightbourne, Prospect Primary

•Vernon Lambe III, Whitney Institute

•Patricia Nisbett, CedarBridge Academy

•Makeba Stowe, East End Primary

•Winsome Wilson Place, Somerset Primary

•Florence Brown, St. George’s Prep

To support nominations, e-mail admin@ben.bm or comment on BEN’s Facebook page.