Acworth Educator Earns Teacher of the Year Honors

A veteran geography, history, and psychology teacher at an Acworth high school has been named one of three Teachers of the Year in the Cobb County School District.

Tyler Gwinn, who transferred to Allatoona from South Cobb High School, was honored for his mission of preparing students for the challenges and joys that face them after they leave the classroom. His current issues class plays a modified version of the board game Life throughout the semester, which teaches the youngsters how to operate on a budget, excel in social skills, and get a taste of the “real world.”

Additionally, Gwinn was the mastermind of the “Realization of Education” event, which brought community and business leaders to the campus to talk to students about the subjects they were learning and why each subject was important and useful for their lives once they graduate.

Originally, Gwinn had no plans of becoming a teacher after graduating college. According to his bio on the Cobb County School District’s website, Gwinn only entered the profession after being convinced by teachers and coaches to take up the family business. Gwinn’s mother taught Latin.

“Tyler Gwynn is an enthusiastic teacher who cares about his students, teaches with passion and makes learning fun every day,” said Allatoona’s principal Scott Bursmith.

Gwinn joins Hendricks Elementary’s Beth Knight and Daniell Middle’s Rick Parker as co-Teachers of the Year. Each educator was first nominated as their school’s teacher of the year by their colleagues. The three winners, along with every other school’s teacher of the year, submitted applications to be named the Cobb County School District Teacher of the Year, and three finalists, one for each school level, were chosen. The eventual District Teacher of the Year will be decided at the end of a rigorous interview process.

School Superintendent Chris Ragsdale surprised each teacher during their first day of pre-planning by appearing at their schools and naming them the teacher of the year in front of their colleagues.