She has taught journalism to students and other educators all over the country in summer workshops, lecture halls, and convention centers but its Orange County Public Schools she calls home. The 2012 Orange County Teacher of the Year is Boone High School journalism teacher Renee Burke. That announcement was made during the district’s annual Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony held tonight at the Rosen Centre Hotel.
For more than 15 years, Renee Burke has been teaching in Orange County Public Schools and at Boone High. She is not only a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in Orange County but a graduate from Orange County Public Schools. She has received numerous national honors and awards including the Gold Crown from Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) for the Boone High Legend yearbook and the Silver Crown from CSPA for the school newspaper, Hi-Lights.
Burke is not only a teacher, she is currently the state director of the Journalism Education Association. She has also served as the convention co-chair of the Florida Scholastic Press Association (FSPA) and was recognized in 2008 as the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Distinguished Adviser of the Year. In 2010, Burke was named District 3 Journalism Adviser of the Year for the FSPA.
Mrs. Burke believes in bringing a real-world experience to her classroom. She wants her students to learn teamwork, goal-setting, budgets, and time management as well journalism. She also says she wants her students to be able to take the skills they learn in her class into any workplace in the world. Burke’s co-workers say she is tireless and often sacrifices her evenings and weekends for the sake of her students and the publications they produce.
Boone High School principal, Dr. Margaret McMillen says, “Renee Burke is well-respected by the students, the staff, and the Boone community. She is a master journalism educator and will represent our district honorably as the 2012 Teacher of the Year.”
Renee Burke will now go on to the 2012 Florida Department of Education/Macy’s Teacher of the Year event to be held in July 2011.
