This year’s Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Teacher of the Year goes to Melissa Porter Parks, English Language Development resource teacher at Gaithersburg High School.
“I want to say thank you to all of my students, to all of our wonderful team at Gaithersburg High School,” Porter Parks said after receiving the award during an event Wednesday evening in Rockville.
“I am very shocked and honored,” she said. According to MCPS, Porter Parks oversees more than 800 Emerging Multilingual Learners, and her support has improved the graduation rate of those students since 2018. The rate went to 60% in 2022, up from 33.3% .
Porter Parks is now in the running for Maryland Teacher of the Year. According to MCPS, she will get a cash prize and a one-year car lease from Fitzgerald Auto Malls.
The other three finalists were: Janie Earle, kindergarten teacher at Poolesville Elementary School, Carrie Kraynak, English Language Development teacher at Flower Hill Elementary School and Morgan Patel, social studies teacher at Montgomery Blair High School.
Bruno Smith, building service manager at Mill Creek Towne Elementary School was named Supporting Services Employee of the Year.
“This is motivation right here to continue to do great things in the community,” Smith said upon receiving the award. The other two supporting services finalists were Chaula Butterworth, paraeducator at Farmland Elementary School and Robin McCue, administrative secretary for the Department of Athletics.
There were additional awards Wednesday evening: Danielle Gover, chorus teacher at Westland Middle School, was named MCPS Rising Star Teacher of the Year. Margarita Bohórquez, director of International Admissions and Enrollment, received the Dr. Edward Shirley Award for Excellence in Educational Administration and Supervision. Farron Riggs, paraeducator and baseball coach at Rockville High School, was named R.A.I.S.E. Champion of the Year.
And, County Police Chief Marcus Jones was named the superintendent’s Community Champion for Children.
Last year, Shannon McKenzie, child development teacher at Clarksburg High School, was named MCPS Teacher of the Year.
