Central High School Agriculture Teacher Stanley Clarke is the 2025-2026 Carroll County Schools Teacher of the Year.
Clarke’s 30-plus-year teaching career spans both Georgia and Alabama, both classroom and leadership positions, and even time at the Alabama Department of Education. He’s been teaching at Central High since 2020.
Clarke’s agriculture education programs have been recognized at the state and national levels, and one of his proudest moments was being the teacher of two national champion forestry teams.
In Clarke’s 4 years at Central High School, 15 of his students have become Georgia state champions in various agricultural career development events. In 2023, his FFA Chapter and students were honored and recognized as the Area 1-Northwest Georgia FFA Chapter of the Year.
“Mr. Clarke is an outstanding choice for Carroll County Teacher of the Year,” Carroll County Schools Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Executive Director Cindy Clanton said. “He has elevated the standard for all of our agriculture programs in Carroll County by continually leading in FFA competitive events, supervised agricultural experiences, and quality classroom instruction. He focuses on growing future leaders and building stronger communities.”
Providence Elementary School STEM teacher Christina Flores is the system runner-up. A 15-year veteran teacher, Flores is in her second year teaching STEM.
“We have such fabulous educators in our system,” Superintendent Scott Cowart said. “Each year when I hear the stories of our winners and what they are doing in the classroom, I’m reminded again that these are the best of the best. They represent over 1,000 classroom teachers across our five clusters of schools. We are proud of them all, and we are all pulling for Mr. Clarke as he represents us at the state level.”
Clarke and Flores were announced as winners Thursday, October 24 at a celebration for all 25 school-level Carroll County School System teachers of the year. Community representatives who served as judges, sponsors of the Teacher of the Year event, school and system representatives and board of education members attended the event as a part of the evening’s board meeting.
The Teacher of the Year competition begins each year when each school’s faculty selects a school winner. All school winners complete a written application which is reviewed by a panel of community judges. The panel of judges selects finalists and visits their classrooms for in-person evaluations.
Finalists who were announced in September were Clarke, Flores and Claudia Lancheros from Temple High School. This year’s community judges were Susan Hale, Patrick Thompson, and Jimmy Garrett.
“Tonight’s celebration of the premier teaching talent in our district’s classrooms was an exciting event and great opportunity to show our gratitude for what these teachers bring to their classrooms each and every day,” Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Jared Griffis said. “Their commitment to positively changing lives is evident in their character and daily practice. We celebrate their dedication and hard work. Congratulations to all of our teachers of the year.”
The Teacher of the Year celebration was supported by premier sponsors: Carroll County Association of Educators, Carrollton Office Equipment, GP Federal Credit Union, Holloway Floor and Ceiling, ESS, Jules and James, Metropolitan Communications, Pilgrim’s Pride, J&R Construction, and Southern Cleaning Services.
