Darryl Brese was recognized as the District Teacher of the Year for 2026-2027 at the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night.
Oglethorpe County Middle School Principal Mack Baldwin said Brese was awarded for his “constant presence” as a supporter of students and staff, and his “exceptional gift of teaching life sciences in a way that relates to the students of Oglethorpe County.”
Brese, a seventh-grade science teacher at Oglethorpe County Middle School, has worked in the school system for 18 years, with 12 of those years at the high school. This is his third time winning teacher of the year at a school in the county and his first win at the middle school.
“It means that all these years teaching has been worth something,” Brese said. “I work with the greatest teachers in the world, and it means the world to know that they think highly enough of me for this to happen.”
Brese said he sees the win as a symbol of his future role as a teacher and leader in the school system.
“I hope I can make other teachers’ jobs easier, and I hope that I can make other teachers better teachers,” Brese said.
The other teachers of the year — Ginger Woods (OCES) and Travis Sertich (OCHS) — and support professionals of the year — Katherine Edwards (OCES), Annie Murphy (OCMS) and Mia Tucker (OCHS) — were also recognized at the meeting.
“They really do embody what we’re looking for when we say that Oglethorpe is a caring community of passionate educators,” Superintendent Phillip Powell said. “They play such a pivotal role in our kids’ lives, and I couldn’t be more thankful for having such a great group of educators from so many different fields representing our school system.”
The board also heard school improvement plans from each school’s principal and administration. These plans are meant to align to the Oglethorpe County School System 2026-2030 strategic plan and focus on academics, behavior and attendance.
OCMS and OCHS plans emphasized academic goals and strategies based on the Georgia Milestones.
“I would like to see our Milestone achievement improve,” Powell said. “You can see how we’re focusing on that with each one of those school improvement plans in the district.”
Each school also focused on behavior improvements, using a whole child philosophy assessed through a Universal Behavior Screener this fall, and improving attendance.
Many of these goals will be supported by positive reinforcement strategies.
OCMS counselor Annie Murphy said the school’s administration has used a mounted bell, which hangs in a main area of the building, for students to ring any time during the day as a reward for behavior, grades and other achievements.
OCES principal Katie Baldwin said the school will begin to reward classrooms with perfect attendance by allowing them to post the achievement on their door for the day.
In other business, the BOE:
- Approved $20,752 for additional fencing around air conditioning units and the multipurpose building for pre-school, pre-K and ASPIRE at Oglethorpe County Elementary School. The additional fencing is for student safety during recess and after-school pickup.
- Heard that the calendar committee met to decide on two possible calendar options, which will be voted on by teachers, staff and parents.
- Approved $14,500 to the Georgia School Boards Association for Oglethorpe County Board of Education policy manual revisions, so they are compliant with 2026 standards.
- Approved changes to the School Properties Disposal Procedure. Instead of the school system advertising the sale of unwanted materials in The Oglethorpe Echo, the superintendent can sell surplus school property when its value is $3,500 or less.