SALEM, Va. – A Salem teacher was named 2020 Virginia Teacher of the Year at a ceremony in Richmond on Monday night.
Andrea Johnson, a 12th-grade English teacher at Salem High School, was selected from eight regional winners in Virginia announced last month.
In addition to the 2020 Virginia Teacher of the Year, she's now Virginia's nominee for 2020 National Teacher of the Year.
A committee made up of members of the business community, as well as a representative from professional and educational associations interviewed Johnson for the award.
Governor Ralph Northam, Virginia's first lady Pamela Northam, and Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane, made the announcement at the ceremony at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
Johnson began her teaching career in 2011 at Lakeland High in Suffolk. In 2014, she began teaching English at Andrew Lewis Middle and Salem High School in Salem. She now teaches at the high school, where she has served as the chair of the English department since 2017.
Johnson got her bachelor's at UVA and her master's at VCU.
The 2020 National Teacher of the Year will be announced next spring at a White House ceremony.
The following are the other seven 2020 Virginia Regional Teachers of the Year:
- Gregory Patrick Lyndaker, an advanced placement and international baccalaureate psychology teacher at Henrico High in Henrico County (Region 1)
- Rachel Kathryn Thompson, an international baccalaureate world language Spanish and Advanced Placement Capstone Seminar teacher at Princess Anne High in Virginia Beach (Region 2)
- Latasha Marlene Lee, a choral music teacher at Northumberland Middle and Northumberland High in Northumberland County (Region 3)
- Jennifer Renee Rodgers, an Advanced Placement United States and comparative government and politics, academic government, modern international relations, and global social issues teacher at Dominion High in Loudoun County (Region 4)
- Amy Marie Mallow, a second-grade teacher at Huddleston Elementary in Bedford County (Region 5)
- Sarah Lea Deel, a science teacher at Marion Senior High in Smyth County (Region 7)
- Michelle Rae Howell, a special education teacher at LaCrosse Elementary in Mecklenburg County (Region 8)