- April 25, 2024
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Belle Terre Elementary School teacher Agatha Lee was the county’s top teacher in 2010.
Agatha Lee sat in her seat Thursday, Jan. 13, at the Flagler Auditorium and listened to her Belle Terre Elementary School co-worker Margaret Carcagente be named Flagler County Employee of the Year. As a Teacher of the Year nominee, Lee thought, There’s no way they would name two teachers from BTES.
But they did. Minutes later Lee, a second grade teacher at Belle Terre, was announced as the Flagler County Teacher of the Year.
“It truly is an honor,” Lee said in a Tuesday morning interview in her classroom. “I feel so humbled that I was chosen to represent Flagler County. It‘s just such an honor I can’t get over it.”
Lee has taught since 2004 in Flagler and has taught 12 years overall. She said she uses technology and music daily.
“I love singing songs to them ... and being cheesy and cute,” Lee said, adding that songs are good “brain breaks.”
“I teach to make a difference in the lives of children,” Lee said. “I love to see them learn new things. I love to teach them different character traits — how to treat people with compassion. I love to build that enthusiasm in their learning and motivate them to keep learning new things.”
Lee’s class acted as a pilot class for the first laptop carts in Flagler, and she continues to use them.
“It only takes a classroom visit to understand why she is such an excellent candidate for Florida’s Teacher of the Year,” said Assistant Principal Anna Crawford.
Nominees for the Flagler award included Beverly Thompson, Brian Tuttle, Cara Cronk, Christina Miller, Deborah Breeding, Heather Doutrick, James Pignatiello, Joan Blasingame, Louise Wolfe and Mareen Stowell.
In addition to her excellence in the classroom, Lee’s passion can be seen in her role for the last two years as an organizer of a service project called Kids Closet.
The idea was to have children go through their closets and donate gently used clothing to be purchased for 25 cents, Lee said. One foster mother bought $100 worth of clothes this year. Lee donated the proceeds of the event to the American Cancer Society.
“To see the expression on their faces — it’s so heart-warming to know that that project can help so many people,” Lee said.
Crawford said it’s hard to put into words what this honor means to BTES.
“It’s such an honor for our school, and for me personally, to work with our Teacher of the Year and our Employee of the Year,” Crawford said. “I may be a bit biased, but Belle Terre is an amazing school.”
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR: Margaret Carcagente
Margaret Carcagente is a paraprofessional in autism at Belle Terre Elementary School. She was selected as Flagler County’s Employee of the Year out of 16 nominees.
Other nominee’s include Angela Harris, FPC food services; Anne Risley, transportation router; Christine Conners, Rymfire bookkeeper; Cindy Kyska, Pathways executive secretary; Dario Arias custodial services; Darise Pagello, FPC paraprofessional administrator; Elizabeth Astuto, Wadsworth attendance clerk; Gillan Ceballos, Indian Trails secretary; Kathy Summerlot, Matanzas guidance secretary; Kimberly Turner, Bunnell guidance secretary; Laura Capello, plant services executive secretary; Peggi Hammack, Old Kings paraprofessional, sixth grade; Roberta Kalva, Buddy Taylor media aide; Shelly Rashelle Martin, Government Service Building receptionist; Veronica Maggs, Flagler Technical Center program manager.
TEACHER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
Beverly Thompson—Wadsworth Elementary; fourth grade
Brian Tuttle—Pathways; science
Cara Cronk—Indian Trails Middle; eighth grade language arts
Christina Miller—Buddy Taylor Middle; seventh grade mathematics
Deborah Breeding—Bunnell Elementary; fourth grade
Heather Doutrick—Rymfire Elementary; fourth grade
James Pignatiello—Flagler Palm Coast High; AP and IB science
Joan Blasingame—Old Kings Elementary; kindergarten
Louise Wolfe—Matanzas High; mathematics
Maureen Stowell—Adult Education; program manager
