56 Horry County educators in running for district’s 2026 teacher of the year award
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — The next Horry County teacher of the year will be one of 56 educators who have been chosen by their peers at their respective schools.
The list will be trimmed to 10 semifinalists chosen by the district's selection committee after a review of written applications submitted by the school winners. The committee will then review the portfolios of the semifinalists and interviews with the committee to narrow the group to five.
One of those five will then be named the district's 2026 teacher of the year.
The district's reigning teacher of the year is Spanish instructor Joey Hernandez from the Academy for the Arts, Science, & Technology .
The full list of 2024-25 nominees from each school is below:
Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology — Jodi Rielly
Academy for Technology & Academics Sylvester — McCoy
Aynor Elementary — Cristy Dudley
Aynor High — Joshua Paul
Aynor Middle — James Walker
Black Water Middle — Angie Richardson
Burgess Elementary — Andrea Hall
Carolina Forest Elementary — Christina Neal
Carolina Forest High — Shelly Reathaford
Conway Elementary — Jake Cox
Conway High — Katie Todd
Conway Middle — Maurice Sheffield
Daisy Elementary — Angela Rabon
Forestbrook Elementary — Logan Robillard
Forestbrook Middle — Sandra Shores
Green Sea Floyds Elementary — Kirsten Fairfax
Green Sea Floyds High — Tennille Hardee
Green Sea Floyds Middle — Andrea Skipper
HCS Early College High — Jonelle Benton
HCS Scholars Academy High — Jamie Carson
Homewood Elementary — Pamela Knight
Kingston Elementary — Sean Lysowski
Lakewood Elementary — Lisa Taylor
Loris Elementary — Holly Hardee
Loris High — Sara Timmins
Loris Middle — Cheryl Zupan
Midland Elementary — Heather Papp
Myrtle Beach Early Childhood School — Michele Hancock
Myrtle Beach Elementary — Rebecca Moruzzi
Myrtle Beach High 9 — Ernie Rivas
Myrtle Beach Middle — Maryna Drozd-Reid
Myrtle Beach Primary — Melody Larrimore
North Myrtle Beach High — Ryan D'Amicantonio
North Myrtle Beach Middle — Kara Knab
Ocean Bay Elementary — Sonia Goodwin
Ocean Bay Middle — Jennifer Delaney
Ocean Drive Elementary — Maria Acosta
Palmetto Bays Elementary — Christine Kizer
Pee Dee Elementary — Shayla Smith
River Oaks Elementary — Andrew Slawson
Riverside Elementary –Heather Callaghan
Seaside Elementary — Caroline Henson
SOAR Academy — Heather Van Dyke
Socastee Elementary — Amy Orr
Socastee High — Robert Curran
Socastee Middle — Michelle Bozio
South Conway Elementary — Tabitha Gilliard
St. James Elementary — Abby Mook
St. James High — Kathryn Sessions
St. James Intermediate — Danielle McColl
St. James Middle –Emily Riefler
Ten Oaks Middle — JoLynn Prochaska
Therapeutic Learning Center — Jocelyn Ulloa
Waccamaw Elementary — Kate Horsley
Waterway Elementary — Erik Stair
Whittemore Park Middle — Earth Wactor
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Dennis Bright is the Digital Executive Producer at News13 . He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook , X, formerly Twitter , and read more of his work here .
