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Three University of Georgia College of Education alumni were among the top 10 finalists for the 2014 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

Mitchell

They included:
Brandon A. Mitchell, (EdS ‘09, MEd ’07, BSEd ’04), a physical and environmental science teacher at Winder-Barrow High School in Barrow County;

Pollitz

Shannon Pollitz,  (BSEd ’01, EdS ’00, MEd ’00),  and eighth grade Gifted English Language Arts teacher at Pepperell Middle School in Floyd County; and

Smith

Tanya Smith,   (MS ’06, BSEd ’98) a physical science and gifted/accelerated chemistry teacher in Wayne County High School in Wayne County.

Jemelleh Coes, a special education English language arts and reading teacher from Langston Chapel Middle School in Statesboro, was named the 2014 Georgia Teacher of the Year at the annual Georgia Teacher of the Year banquet held May 3 at the Georgia International Convention Center. As Georgia Teacher of the Year, Ms. Coes will serve as an advocate for public education in Georgia.

“Jemelleh Coes is going to be a wonderful representative of the teaching profession in Georgia,” said State School Superintendent John Barge (EdD ’04). “As the daughter of immigrants from Guyana, Ms. Coes worked hard to become a teacher and make a difference in the life of a child. Now she will have the opportunity to share her story and passion with many others.”

Driven by wanting a career that would help others,  Coes became a teacher at Langston Chapel Middle School after graduating from Georgia Southern University. She has spent her entire career at Langston Chapel and is currently teaching English Language Arts, Resource Language Arts and Remediation English Language Arts.