Asheville Rotary Names Five Teachers of Excellence Winners

The Rotary Club of Asheville announced on December 16, 2025 that five local educators had been selected as the 2026 Teachers of Excellence, each awarded two thousand dollars to support classroom innovation. Winners were chosen from a field of thirty nominees representing schools across Asheville City and Buncombe County after written essay submissions and interviews with semifinalists. The awards will be celebrated at a January 29 luncheon hosted by the Rotary Club, part of the organization s ongoing service initiatives in local education.

The honorees are Marianne Simmons of Hall Fletcher Elementary, Tonya Gesing of Community High School, Amy Sheeler of Asheville Middle School, Robin Franklin of Enka High School, and William Chandler Greer of AC Reynolds High School. The selection process combined written materials with in person interviews, offering a measure of review that the club described as a way to evaluate classroom impact and innovation among a diverse nominee pool.

Beyond individual recognition, the awards carry practical significance for classrooms. Two thousand dollars per recipient can supplement materials, technology, or project based learning activities that school budgets may not fully cover. In that way, the Rotary program functions as a targeted civic partnership that channels private philanthropy into public education, while also spotlighting teaching practices that community members value.

The program also raises broader institutional questions for residents and policymakers. Civic organizations can provide timely resources and recognition, but they are not a substitute for stable school funding set by local boards and county budgets. The nomination and selection process, which included essays and interviews, provides a level of transparency, yet the scale of awards relative to systemic needs invites discussion about how elected officials and voters prioritize education in budget and policy decisions.

For Buncombe County residents, the Rotary awards offer both immediate classroom benefits and a reminder of the role that civic engagement plays in local schooling. The January 29 luncheon will provide an occasion for the community to celebrate these educators, and to consider how public policy and private initiative together shape teaching support and student opportunities across the county.