The Magnolia Public School District on Monday, Aug. 13, will hold its monthly board of education meeting at the MHS campus’ administration building. In the gathering, district teacher of the year Renée Bailey will be announced as a top 14 regional finalist for the state award of the same name.
As part of the honor, the 34-year elementary school educator — entering her 35th and having taught fourth grade at Central Elementary for the bulk of that time — on Thursday will attend a special ceremony in Little Rock where Governor Asa Hutchinson and Arkansas Department of Education Commissioner Johnny Key will recognize all of the Natural State’s 14 regional finalists, as well as name the top four teachers chosen by the Arkansas Department of Education for its 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.
The governor’s mansion ceremony will include a morning reception, mingle session, media gathering, and special address by Hutchinson. The Arkansas Department of Education will also invite a district educational rep, as well the regional finalists’ local representative and senator.
If a teacher is named as a top four state finalist, he or she will be eligible for the Arkansas Teacher of the Year designation, where, if awarded, the overall winner would then spend a year working as an Arkansas Department of Education board member and travel throughout the state as an educational liaison.