ALBERTVILLE – Albertville City Schools has named its elementary and secondary teachers of the year for 2023.
This year’s Elementary Teacher of the Year is Albertville Elementary School fourth grade teacher Dianna Adams. The 2023 Secondary Teacher of the Year is Albertville High School English teacher Annsonnetta Golden.
Mrs. Adams is a graduate of Albertville High School and the University of Alabama. She has taught for more than 30 years, including Albertville City Schools since 1997. She has taught gifted classes since 2004 at Albertville Elementary School. She has been the sponsor for the AES WinSouth Credit Union and Technology Team for the last 15 years.
Adams received Albertville Elementary School Teacher of the Year honors for 2023 as well and has received the 4-H Leader of the Year award twice in Marshall County. This year, she was named the 4-H Northeast Alabama Volunteer of the Year for the state. She’s a member of the Albertville First Methodist Church, Montage Study Club, the University of Alabama Marshall County Alumni Association, and a Delta Delta Delta alumna.
“I grew up in Albertville and had the chance to come home to teach fourth grade, where I felt very comfortable. That felt like home. Then I got my dream job of teaching gifted education, and I really felt at home when I got to be in the gifted classroom. So being in the gifted classroom, in fourth grade, in Albertville – it just feels like home.”
Mrs. Golden began teaching at Stanhope Elmore High School in 2001. After moving back in 2006, she began teaching at Albertville High School. Throughout her teaching career, she’s worn many hats in the classroom – Honors English, Pre-AP English, Standard English, Assisted English, English for at-risk students, and EL English.
Her most recent hat has brought her to the place she had unknowingly been preparing for – teaching core English classes to newcomer and year 3+ students at AHS, where she was named the 2023 Teacher of the Year. Newcomer students have been in school in the United States for less than two years, and year 3+ students have been in school in the U.S. for three years or more. She hopes to continue teaching EL students for the remainder of her life as a teacher.
“My favorite part of the school day is when a student leaves my room with a smile because that smile means to me that they feel safe and comfortable. They feel enough at home that they leave here knowing they have accomplished something and are leaving with more confidence than they had when they came in for the day. So, that smile is worth more than anything in the world,” said Mrs. Golden.
Four additional teachers received 2023 Teacher of the Year honors at their respective schools as well.
- Cheslea Alexander, pre-K teacher at Albertville Kindergarten and Pre-K.
- Brooke Bishop, first grade teacher at Albertville Primary School.
- Ali Ham, sixth grade teacher at Albertville Intermediate School.
- Kristi Scott, a teacher at Albertville Middle School.
All of the teachers were recognized at the Albertville Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
“It’s great to celebrate with our teachers of the year. We’ve got the best teachers anywhere. What you do on a daily basis does not go unseen,” said ACS Superintendent Dr. Boyd K. English. “The challenges we face… I’ve never heard complaints. I’ve never heard ‘I can’t believe I have to do this.’ You roll up your sleeves, and you go to work. You do your job well, and you represent us all very well.”
Chelsea Alexander, AKPK Teacher of the Year
Chelsea Alexander is a pre-K teacher for AKPK. She has been with Albertville City Schools for eight years. She has a heart for teaching and a passion for making students love learning. She loves to challenge her students daily and make them think outside the box by incorporating daily multisensory learning activities and learning social emotional skills through play-based learning.
She loves to teach pre-K because it is the first school experience some students have, and it is important to build a foundation that makes them fall in love with learning. She graduated with an associate degree in 2017 from Snead State Community College. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Athens State University in 2020. She is also a graduate of Albertville High School.
Brooke Bishop, Albertville Primary School Teacher of the Year
Brooke Bishop has been teaching first grade at Albertville Primary School for 14 years. Any lesson that engages students and sparks their interest and creativity is her teaching goal.
Bishop is a 2002 graduate of the University of Alabama and a 2009 graduate of Jacksonville State University. While at APS, she has served on the Alabama Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the Textbook Committee, Leadership Team, ELA and Math Teams. She is a graduate of Boaz High School.
Ali Ham, Albertville Intermediate School Teacher of the Year
Ali Ham’s passion for education reaches beyond academics. She started her career teaching third grade in a high-poverty school in Birmingham. It was here she learned that having a career in education is far more than just teaching the required standards. She makes it her mission to develop meaningful relationships with her students and believes building confidence in mathematics is crucial for students.
After attending Auburn University for two years, Ham graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree from Kennesaw State University. At AIS, she serves on the leadership team, leads the Vision and Planning Action Team and the Sixth Grade Math Team. Additionally, she serves on the ACS Calendar Committee, is a teacher mentor and has hosted several practicum students.
Kristi Scott, Albertville Middle School Teacher of the Year
Kristi Scott has been teaching at Albertville City Schools since 1998. She began teaching at Big Spring Lake Kindergarten in 1998. Twelve years later, she started teaching fifth grade reading at Evans Elementary. In 2017, she moved to Albertville Middle School to teach reading to seventh and eighth grade students. In 2020, she became the school’s EL teacher and intervention teacher.
She credits kindergarten as being the foundation of her teaching career and says it taught her how to be a better teacher and how to encourage students to become life-long learners. Scott is a graduate of Albertville High School. She attended Snead State Community College and earned an associate degree. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in 1997 from the University of Alabama and a master’s degree from the University of West Alabama in 2009.
Albertville City Schools has named its elementary and secondary teachers of the year for 2023. Pictured, left to right, is Ali Ham from Albertville Intermediate School, Brooke Bishop from Albertville Primary School, Chelsea Alexander from Albertville Kindergarten and Pre-K, Dianna Adams from Albertville Elementary School, Kristi Scott from Albertville Middle School, and Annsonnetta Golden from Albertville High School. The teachers were recognized by Superintendent Dr. Boyd K. English and the Albertville Board of Education during its regular monthly meeting on Feb. 21. Adams was also named the ACS Elementary Teacher of the Year, and Golden received ACS Secondary Teacher of the Year honors.
