In Friday's Oct. 5 edition, we announced the finalists for Newton County Teacher of the Year.

As far as we are concerned, Julie Thompson, Kimberly Malcom and Whitney Jackson are already winners.

We are certain when you think of what these outstanding educators have accomplished in instructing our children over the years, that they have dedicated their lives to developing learning skills, molding minds and enriching their scholarly endeavors, you can think back to that one teacher or teachers who made a lasting impression in your own life.

Like many other professions, being a teacher today involves wearing multiple hats.

Because of single-parent homes and the advent of social media, which exposes our children to every possible scenario, both good and bad almost instantaneously, today's teachers also need to be mentors and counselors and in some cases, have to scramble for supplies to ensure that their charges have the basics required to complete their work.

We don't know which one of these fine young educators will be named Teacher of the Year, but certainly, each one is already a winner - not only to their students, but because of their dedication to teaching our future leaders, our community as a whole wins as well.