Meet Wake County’s new Teacher of the Year. She’s no stranger to winning awards.
Lindsey Evans, Wake County’s newest Teacher of the Year, has a track record of being recognized as among the best in her profession.
The eighth-grade social studies teacher at Apex Friendship Middle School was named the Wake County school system’s 2019-20 Teacher of the Year at a ceremony Thursday at the Raleigh Convention Center. Evans is no stranger to the district’s Teacher of the Year Banquet as she was honored in 2010 as a winner of the Diane Kent-Parker First Year Teacher Award.
“Can I ask for a better system to work for?” Evans said in her speech Thursday after winning the Teacher of the Year Award. “What starts here truly does changes everything. That slogan, it not only applies to our students, but really to anyone of us who is remotely connected to the Wake County Public School System.
“My continued growth as a teacher is directly connected to our vision that our school system has set before us, and as we all work together to make our students’ learning rigorous and relevant, may we also be reminded of the uniqueness that lies within each one of them.”
The N.C. State University graduate had taught at Apex Middle School for nine years before joining the new Apex Friendship Middle when it opened this school year. Apex Friendship held a celebration for Evans on Friday morning.
A big focus for Evans is building strong relationships with students. She mentioned them in her acceptance speech Thursday, telling the students in the district and in her classes that they have “the biggest cheer section that one could ever hope for” in Wake’s school employees.
“I’m so proud to represent each of the 123 students I’ve been so blessed to teach each day,” Evans said. “Without them, this means nothing. They’re the reason I show up to work each day, the reason I work to be the best version of myself and the reason why I strive for continued growth as a teacher.”
When she won the First-Year Teacher Award in 2010, Evans credited the support she received from experienced teachers at Apex Middle, including her mentor and the teacher in whose class she worked while student teaching in college, the News & Observer previously reported.
Evans is now a mentor for beginning teachers. She’s also Apex Friendship’s social studies department chairwoman. an eighth-grade team leader, a School Improvement Plan team member, a middle school leadership team member and a school system Teacher Leader Corps representative.
She beat out a field that included winners from all 187 Wake County schools to be chosen as the top teacher in North Carolina’s largest school system. Apex Friendship picked her as its inaugural Teacher of the Year in October.
Evans was among 10 district finalists announced for Wake Teacher of the Year in April. Superintendent Cathy Moore made surprise visits to the classrooms of the 10 finalists.
Evans will receive a prize package that includes a $1,000 check. She will now compete in the state Teacher of the Year program.
This story was originally published May 9, 2019 at 8:43 PM.
