Alamance-Burlington School System Names 2026 Teachers of the Year
Windy Lampson, an art teacher at Southeast High School, was named ABSS teacher of the year amid a district post announcing “2026 Teachers of the Year, one from each school”; Alamance Amplified now has some 300 members.
Alamance-Burlington School System announced its 2026 Teachers of the Year, one from each school, honoring “educators who excel in supporting students daily,” the district wrote in a post that was “Posted today by official ABSS account.” The brief district announcement did not include a full roster in the supplied excerpt; local reporting identifies Southeast High School art teacher Windy Lampson as the system’s teacher of the year, though that reporting labels her as the 2025 winner.
Alamance News reports that Lampson will receive a package of awards that includes a trip sponsored by Go Global NC, a $2,000 personal check, a $1,000 check for Southeast High School, funding to attend a national conference of her choice, funding for a classroom makeover, and “other prizes donated by nearly two dozen area businesses, nonprofits, and individuals.” The Alamance News excerpt also notes Lampson’s next steps in competition: “Lampson will go on to compete later this year for the Piedmont-Triad region teacher of the year and the N.C. teacher of the year in the spring of 2026.”
Lampson’s biography in the Alamance News excerpt traces her roots to Goldsboro and lists East Carolina University as her alma mater. The story says she is “in her 18th year of teaching and 16th year of teaching for ABSS,” taught art at Graham High School for 14 years, was selected by Graham colleagues as that school’s teacher of the year in 2016 and 2021, and was a finalist for the ABSS teacher of the year in 2021. The excerpt adds that she transferred to Southeast High School “following completion of the county’s newest high school in 2023” and that “She resides in Burlington with her husband and two children.”
Lampson’s role in district teacher leadership is documented in the Alamance News excerpt. The teacher leadership group Alamance Amplified “was originally established as a teacher leadership advisory council by Kelly Poquette, then a math teacher at E.M. Yoder Elementary School after she was selected as the ABSS teacher of the year in 2020,” the article says; Poquette is now “an assistant professor of music at Greensboro College.” The story quotes Lampson: “At the time, I was teacher of the year at Graham. We met on Zoom and discussed ways to better the profession, to better ABSS in general.” The piece adds that “Alamance Amplified is now some 300 members strong and entirely run by teachers,” and Lampson says, “It includes any teacher in ABSS. There are no dues; it’s not a union. We focus on doing whatever we can to better ABSS and the mindset in general.”
A notable discrepancy remains between the ABSS post’s phrasing and local reporting: the district announced “2026 Teachers of the Year, one from each school,” while Alamance News identifies Lampson as the Alamance-Burlington school system’s 2025 Teacher of the Year. Contacting ABSS communications to obtain the official list of 2026 Teachers of the Year and to clarify Lampson’s official title year would resolve whether Lampson is listed among ABSS’s 2026 honorees or holds the 2025 designation.
The local contest feeds into the statewide and national process run by the Council of Chief State School Officers. In a Jan. 27, 2026 press release, CCSSO said it “announced that five inspiring educators from across the country are finalists for the 2026 National Teacher of the Year,” and noted it “runs the National Teacher of the Year Program with Google for Education as the lead sponsor.” “I congratulate these finalists for their outstanding commitment to education and impactful teaching that advances student outcomes,” said CCSSO Chief Executive Officer Carissa Moffat Miller. CCSSO added that the finalists “will next travel to D.C. and interview with the National Teacher of the Year Selection Committee, and CCSSO will announce the 2026 National Teacher of the Year this spring.”
For more information on the Alamance News coverage cited here, the paper’s contact block in the supplied excerpt lists The Alamance News at 114 West Elm Street, Graham, NC 27253, Ph: 336.228.7851. For an official ABSS roster and press materials, contact ABSS communications to request the full list of teachers named in the district’s “2026 Teachers of the Year” announcement.
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