COVINGTON, Ga. - Flint Hill Elementary School fourth-grade teacher, Dr. Shannon Price, is Newton County School System’s 2020 Teacher of the Year! 

She will now represent Newton County Schools in the Georgia Teacher of the Year Program. Dr. Price’s prizes included $1,000 cash and a crystal vase from the Newton County Chamber of Commerce and three-month’s free car rental from Covington Ford.

Mrs. Betsy Proffitt of Eastside High School and Mrs. Eboni Simmons of Alcovy High School were this year’s runners up. They each received a crystal vase award from the Newton County Chamber of Commerce. 

“Wow. I’m overwhelmed,” Price said after being named Teacher of the Year. “I graduated from Newton County School System and I’m honored to be able to teach in the county and be able to represent the county that I love. It’s just a god given talent that just spills out of me. I love children and I love what I do and I can’t imagine doing anything else. I love my staff and the people I work with. They are the best staff and friends and administrators around. I love my family. They have been through thick and thin with me and I just appreciate all of you so much.”

She then addressed the other Teachers of the Year on the stage saying, “I don’t do anything that you guys don’t do every single day and that’s what I said in my interview. We work hard and we do a good job and sometimes we don’t hear that. There’s so much negative that comes from the state and the community. And your love for us just makes us better people and better teachers. We do a good job and we need to show each other and take care of each other.”

Price is a fourth-grade teacher at Flint Hill Elementary School. She began her teaching career in the Newton County School System when she was hired as a teacher at Palmer-Stone Elementary School in 1995. She transferred to Flint Hill Elementary School in 2011 and has been teaching there ever since. 

Price has taught kindergarten, second, third and fourth grades for the district. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Georgia College in 1994 and her Master of Arts degree in Elementary Education from Piedmont in 1999.

In 2011, she earned her Education Specialist degree in Teaching and Learning from Liberty University and ultimately obtained her Educational Doctorate from Liberty in 2015. In addition, Price completed all requirements for a Leadership Add-On to her Educational Specialist in 2017.

Newton County’s Teacher of the Year program would not be possible if it were not for the support of our community. 

As a result, the Newton County School System and the Newton County Chamber of Commerce would like to extend special thanks to the Chamber Champions, sponsors of the 2020 Teacher of the Year program: Abbey Hospice; Alcovy Media; Athens Orthopedic Clinic; AT&T; BB&T; Beaver Manufacturing; Bridgestone Golf; BD; Covington Ford; Covington News; Fidelity Bank; General Mills; Georgia Connector; GPTC; Ginn Motor Company; Hargray Fiber; High Priority Plumbing; MAU; Newton County Water Authority; Newton Citizen; Newton Federal Bank; Nisshinbo Automotive; Oxford College at Emory University; Piedmont Newton; Pinnacle Bank; Takeda; SKC, Inc.; Snapping Shoals EMC; SteelCo; Sunbelt Builders, Inc.; Synovus; Three Ring; TPA Realty Services; Tread Technologies (Michelin); United Bank of Covington; Wagner Service Solutions; The Center; and Newton College and Career Academy.

For more information on the Newton County School System Teacher of the Year program, contact Sherri Davis, director of Public Relations for Newton County Schools at davis.sherri@newton.k12.ga.us.