Three Area Educators Named 2025 AACPS Teacher Of The Year Semifinalists

Posted

Each year, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) honors one exceptional educator as its Teacher of the Year from among a pool of dozens of worthy nominees. This year, 75 teachers from schools across the county were nominated for the 2025 award, and in December, 18 of them were selected as semifinalists. Three of those semifinalists teach at schools in the Severna Park and Broadneck feeder systems. Below is an introduction to these three educators, who are devoted to making a difference in the lives of their students.

Jonathan Martin

Arnold Elementary School – Fourth Grade

New Jersey native Jonathan Martin loves teaching math and other subjects to his fourth-grade students at Arnold Elementary School, but his ultimate goal is to empower kids to do whatever it is they want to do in life. “(If) they want to be a musician, they want to be a scientist – whatever it is that they want to do – I just want them to be empowered to have the choice to be able to do it,” he said.

Martin admits that school was not always easy for him when he was a kid. But nearly 20 years ago, as a student-teacher, he discovered that his own academic challenges opened a door for him to connect with a younger generation of kids who had the same struggles in the classroom. The opportunity to help others was what sold him on a career in teaching.

This is Martin’s seventh year teaching at Arnold Elementary, following 12 years teaching in Montgomery County. The husband and father of an 8-year-old son earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, and last year earned his master’s from McDaniel College.

Arnold Elementary Principal Shauna Kauffman expressed her enthusiasm for Martin being chosen as one of the final 18 in the running for the 2025 award. “We are thrilled that Mr. Martin was selected as a semifinalist for AACPS Teacher of the Year!” she shared. “Every day, Mr. Martin works to be a better teacher for students. He genuinely cares about students and their academic success.”

This care is evidenced by Martin’s commitment to helping kids overcome their anxiety about math, his emphasis on helping students discover how to advocate for themselves and problem-solve in life, and his eagerness to attend his fourth-graders’ plays and events. He considers himself “lucky” to be invited to these special occasions. Last year, Martin even accepted an invitation to play the tambourine during a song in a school winter concert. “The kids got a kick out of that,” he recalled.

“Each year I get to learn and meet new kids. Every classroom dynamic is going to be different just based on their personalities, and I love getting to know them – what makes them tick, I love knowing what they’re passionate about, I like knowing what they’re anxious about inside the school, and just getting to work with them and challenge those ideas and help them to succeed,” Martin said.

Laura Palermo

Benfield Elementary School – Kindergarten

Laura Palermo grew up in the Benfield community of Severna Park, attending Benfield Elementary School as a young girl before graduating from Archbishop Spalding and earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Towson University. Now, she and her husband are raising their three daughters in that same community, and she is back in the classrooms of Benfield Elementary – this time as a seasoned kindergarten teacher.

Following 16 years teaching kindergarteners at Bodkin Elementary in Pasadena, this is Palermo’s fourth year at Benfield. From a young age, she knew she enjoyed working with children. Whether babysitting or teaching swim lessons, Palermo found fulfillment in watching skills click for kids as they soaked up new information and discovered the fun of learning.

In her nomination letter for Palermo, Benfield Elementary Principal Susan Myers wrote, “Mrs. Palermo is an exemplary educator who embodies the principles of creating a positive, inclusive and community-based learning environment. From the start of the school year, she establishes strong relationships with her students and their families, fostering a sense of belonging and trust.”

Those student relationships are a favorite part of teaching for Palermo, who shared that she loves “learning about them, tapping into what they’re interested in, really identifying their strengths and their challenges, and focusing on promoting their strengths and working to build their confidence in whatever skills they’re struggling with, and kind of piece-by-piece putting the puzzle of whatever task it is together.”

Her desires for her students are straightforward: She wants them to enjoy coming to school, to be curious about the world around them, and to be lifelong learners wherever their paths take them.

Palermo goes the extra mile to ensure students feel celebrated by documenting each child’s progress and presenting them with personalized scrapbooks at the end of the school year. She keeps parents informed about classroom happenings through weekly communication and photos posted to a private online album. Palermo also serves on Benfield’s leadership team, coaches Girls on the Run, attends PTO meetings and after-school events, helps put on a student variety show, and even organizes an annual kindergarten musical.

“I think having a partnership with the families (of students) that we teach is really, really impactful, and it’s super important to the success of our classroom in general,” she said.

Catie Russo

Broadneck High School – Visual Art

Catie Russo knew while attending community college in Southern Maryland that she wanted to be an educator – maybe she would teach English or history – but it was while she was substitute teaching for her own high school photography teacher that she discovered one subject would allow her to teach them all.

“I realized, wait a second, you can teach any content area through the arts – you know, there is a history component, there is a written expression component,” she recalled. She went to art school, “and the rest is history.”

Russo earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Maryland Institute College of Art, or MICA, and began her teaching career in Baltimore City before joining the Broadneck High School staff 12 years ago. As a visual art teacher, Russo teaches 2D art classes that cover drawing, painting, printmaking, digital drawing, collage and more. The wife and mother of two also teaches photography.

Russo is a firm believer that art is for everyone.

“I love it when a kid comes to your class and they’re really not sure of their place in art, and then you help them to find it,” she said. Russo emphasizes that the most “magical” thing about art is not the final product, but the process of thinking critically and creating it.

“The journey of developing yourself as an artist is really exciting,” she said.

Russo also places great emphasis on building meaningful relationships with her students. “It’s really important to me in my teaching practice that my students feel a sense of belonging in my classroom,” she said. To facilitate this, she uses the word “community” frequently to help create a “home away from home” environment in her classroom.

Her impact extends beyond her classroom, and even beyond Broadneck, as Russo serves as the equity lead for her school; has partnered frequently for LGBTQ students in the county, including sponsoring Broadneck’s GSA club (gay-straight alliance) since 2016; and is the National Art Honor Society representative for the state through the Maryland Art Education Association.

“To say that Catie Russo has significantly impacted Broadneck High School and AACPS would be an understatement,” Broadneck Principal Patrick Gelinas said of Russo. “Her work has transformed instruction within the art department, continues to have an immeasurable impact on the academic and social-emotional success of students who are involved with National Art Honor Societies and GSA clubs across AACPS and Maryland, and continues to be the driving force behind our student- and data-centered approach to equity.”

 

On April 25, the Education Foundation of AACPS will honor all 75 Teacher of the Year nominees at the 39th annual Excellence in Education Awards, where the 2025 AACPS Teacher of the Year will be announced. The 2024-2025 Principal of the Year – Amy Guerke of Ruth Parker Eason School – will also be celebrated at this event. The 2025 Teacher of the Year will then go on to represent Anne Arundel County in the Maryland State Teacher of the Year competition.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here