When Emma E. Booker Elementary teacher Ronnique Major was pulled into the hallway on November 10, 2023, she was shocked to see teachers, students family and friends lining the walls as she was greeted with a flurry of confetti poppers and cheers. She had been selected Sarasota County’s Elementary School Teacher of the Year, making her a finalist for the district Teacher of the Year.
“It was the last thing on my mind,” said Major.
Major was still in shock a month later, when she was picked to be the Teacher of the Year for the entire district at the Ignite Education Teacher of the Year Award Celebration, hosted by the Education Foundation of Sarasota County in partnership with Sarasota County Schools.
“I’m taking deep breaths because I feel like I’m about to hyperventilate. I just told myself, ‘Just breathe.’ And when he said my name, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s me!’ I just hugged my mom and said, ‘We did it,’ because that was always her thing.”
Major’s mom taught sixth-grade science at Sarasota Middle School and, before that, home economics. Her dad was a school administrator in South Florida. Education was an obvious career path for Major and she has been a teacher for more than 30 years.
She wants her students to know “If nobody else believed in me, Ms. Major did,” long after they have left her classroom.
She had a teacher like that herself – Mrs. Welch, in fourth grade, who called to congratulate her when she was picked Teacher of the Year. Major says that Mrs. Welch was the hardest teacher she ever had, but “she saw something in me that I didn’t see.”
Good teachers recognize the light in their students when they may not see it themselves. Those teachers can be life-changing and even life-defining for a student. That is the magic that Major brings to her classroom and one of the markers of excellence seen in a Teacher of the Year.
Major quickly learned that being Teacher of the Year doesn’t end with that one night of recognition. She attended conferences, including one at Notre Dame that was a highlight for her. There was the statewide Teacher of the Year ceremony, invitations to be a guest speaker and many other opportunities and events.
Being honored as a Sarasota Birdland Community Hero by the Orioles was especially personal for Major. Her uncle was the first African-American student drafted to the major leagues from high school in Sarasota.
Feeling that teachers are sometimes underappreciated, she has been pleasantly surprised by the responses and reactions from the community, especially from strangers. “People [were] just saying ‘Congratulations’ and ‘Thank you for doing what you do.’ I was like, wow, people do like teachers.”
These events over this past year have given Major new insights and perspectives and offered opportunities to network and meet new people. Some of these new connections have become colleagues, friends and mentors.
Major acknowledges that being Sarasota County Teacher of the Year was an honor that will continue to impact her life and has words of wisdom to the incoming nominees, finalists, and the next educator to hold that title.
“Take advantage of the moment. Take it all in. Use this as a way to speak of our teachers, to speak of our children. Use your title to be the advocate for those who don’t have a voice or who feel that they don’t have a voice. Be that voice for our children. Be that voice for our colleagues.”
About the Teacher of the Year Program
The Education Foundation of Sarasota County in partnership with Sarasota County Schools recognizes educators through the Ignite Education Teacher of the Year Award Celebration, highlighting the many ways teachers inspire students and prepare them to succeed and lead meaningful lives. Go to edfoundationsrq.org for more information.
Submitted by the Education Foundation of Sarasota County
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 2024 Sarasota County Teacher of the Year sees the good in her students