A fourth-grade English language arts teacher from Dream Lake Elementary School has been named a finalist for the Teacher of the Year award by Orange County Public Schools.

Laura Stile, who has been teaching at Dream Lake for 19 years, said she received a phone call from OCPS Superintendent Barbara Jenkins on Friday, October 16, with the good news. The winners will be announced in January 2021 at a virtual awards ceremony.

“It was so exciting. I told superintendent Jenkins that it was such an honor,” Stile said. “I work with so many wonderful teachers and to be selected, to represent, you know, all those amazing teachers, that Dream Lake is, was just truly an honor and very exciting.”
Before Dream Lake, Stile taught various grades for about four years at Palmetto
Elementary in Orlando.

Her children – two sons who are now 24 years old and a daughter who is an Apopka High School student – attended Dream Lake.

In Stile’s estimation, education is about “giving children the opportunity to realize their potential and that they can do anything they put their mind to.”

The full story can be found starting on page 1A of the Friday, October 23, issue of The Apopka Chief. Subscribe today!