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Six finalists were selected from more than 80 nominations and applications for the Jefferson City Public Schools Teacher of the Year Award.

Finalists include Jefferson City High School's Beth Dampf, a vocal music teacher, Aaron Gillam, a social studies teacher, and Jana Forck, a math teacher, as well as Stephanie Green, a first grade teacher from Cedar Hill Elementary, kindergarten teacher Emily Roberts from Belair Elementary and Melanie Thompson, a fifth grade teacher from East Elementary.

The Teacher of the Year will be announced at the Annual Teacher Appreciation Banquet on Thursday, April 25th. He or she will then be in the running for the Missouri State Teacher of the Year Award.

The six finalists will each receive an Apple iPad from Scholastic, Inc., while the winner and runner-up will also receive monetary gifts for themselves and their schools from the Jefferson City Public Schools Alumni Association. The other four will get gifts from Central Bank, Hawthorn Bank and Jefferson Bank of Missouri.