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Classroom star: Annette Lee named Beaufort County's 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year

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Annette Lee never thought she'd be named Beaufort County School District's 2007-2008 Teacher of the Year.

So she joked with her students that if she won, she'd let them drive the BMW 328i that comes with the award.

Giving her acceptance speech at Berkeley Hall Country Club Friday, it was time for a new plan.

"How are we going to get permission slips for my students to ride around in the BMW I promised?" she asked, laughing.

Lee will get to drive the car for a year. So, with her trademark humor, she added, "You might want to check the car now for dents."

A special education teacher in Bluffton High School's Freshman Academy, Lee was recognized Friday by school officials who complimented her dedication to students and high expectations for achievement.

There were 27 educators recognized as teachers of the year at individual campuses in Beaufort County, but Lee "shone through" a selection process that included a group interview with the five finalists, said Mary Briggs, academic improvement officer.

"We were all rooting for each other," said Angela Taylor, a science teacher at Hilton Head Island Middle School and a finalist for Teacher of the Year. "Children are a very small part of our population, but they're 100 percent of our future."

Lee credited her success to showing concern for her students, from reassuring them they can handle tests to finding out why they might have trouble completing certain homework assignments.

"I truly believe that you can not teach a child until you know what makes them tick," she said. "And you have to show them you're a real person."

Lee has been a teacher for the past six years. She moved to Bluffton High from H.E. McCracken Middle School last year and has been a department chair at both schools. She holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Southern Maine and a master's degree in learning disabilities from Armstrong Atlantic State University. She's currently taking course work toward a doctorate at Walden University.

Meanwhile, her competitors were happy for her and her win.

"She's just so bubbly and she had all the greatest answers to the questions" in the group interview, said Patsy Powell, Beaufort High School's Teacher of the Year and also one of the five finalists. "She's a perfect candidate. She knew what to say and she didn't say it because it was the right thing to say, it was from the heart."

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