CLASS ACT: Celebrate the Great honors exemplary Palm Beach County educators

The passion, dedication, and excellence of exemplary Palm Beach County public school educators were honored on January 30, 2025 at the fourth annual Celebrate the Great awards, presented by the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County, the School District of Palm Beach County, and UnitedHealthcare.

The dazzling ceremony, held in the Education Foundation’s brand new Center for Public School Excellence and Innovation in Lake Worth Beach, recognized the school district’s Principal of the Year, Assistant Principal of the Year, Teacher of the Year, and School-Related Employee of the Year.

The recipients of this year’s Celebrate the Great awards were:

  • 2025 Principal of the Year: Shauntay King, Pine Grove Elementary School (Delray Beach)
  • 2025 Assistant Principal of the Year: Guy Tabuteau, Pahokee Middle-Senior High School (Pahokee)
  • 2025 Teacher of the Year: Kimberly Stalker, Polo Park Middle School (Wellington)
  • 2025 School-Related Employee of the Year: Yasmin Balaguer, Allamanda Elementary School (Palm Beach Gardens)

The recipients each received a $2,000 cash prize courtesy of Amazon, and will now represent the School District of Palm Beach County while competing at the state level as part of the Florida Department of Education’s recognition programs.

“Each year, Celebrate the Great honors the best and most effective principals, assistant principals, teachers and school district employees,” said James Gavrilos, the president and CEO of the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County. “But how do you choose one out of the 24,000 dedicated heroes and heroines who go to work every day with one thought in mind: ‘How do we inspire the next generation of Palm Beach County leaders in business, government, medicine, engineering, service, law enforcement, and every other field?’ We cannot ever adequately recognize the Herculean efforts put forth every day in the School District of Palm Beach County. So as we Celebrate the Great, we celebrate all who have dedicated their professional lives to the education of our children.”

The Education Foundation of Palm Beach County and School District of Palm Beach County wish to thank the sponsors of this year’s Celebrate the Great awards:

  • UnitedHealthcare
  • Amazon
  • PNC Bank
  • Proctor Construction
  • Keiser University

The four award recipients also received prize packages with gifts courtesy of the Education Foundation’s Red Apple Supplies program, Rapids Water Park, Lion Country Safari, the Hilton Palm Beach Airport, the newly refurbished Tideline Palm Beach Ocean Resort and Spa, CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, Cox Science Center, Drive Shack, Pop Stroke, the Miami Open, Target, Longhorn Steakhouse, Papa John’s, Olive Garden, California Pizza Kitchen, Mission BBQ, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’ in Lake Clarke Shores, the Palm Beach Post, Tickets At Work, Wash and Wax Pros, Converge and Associates Consulting, True Rest Float Therapy, the Salt Suite, and the Hakuna Matata Catamaran Cruise.

In addition to the four award recipients, the following amazing educators were finalists in each category and received a gift box from Red Apple Supplies:

Principal of the Year

  • Central Region: Cara Gorham, Wellington Community High School
  • Glades Region: Dr. Karen Abrams, Pahokee Elementary School
  • North Region: Corey Brooks, William T. Dwyer High School

Assistant Principal of the Year

  • Central Region: Leah Rock, Forest Hill Elementary School
  • North Region: Cindy Pedraza, Northmore Elementary School
  • South Region: Christina Stathopoulos, Loggers Run Middle School

Teacher of the Year

  • Glades Region: Tameka Webber, Lake Shore Middle School
  • North Region: Debi DePasquale, Jupiter Community High School
  • South Region: Frank Torres, Spanish River Community High School

School-Related Employee of the Year

  • Central Region: Yecenia Paredes, Highland Elementary School
  • Glades Region: Jayme Perez, Rosenwald Elementary School
  • South Region: Ann McKessy, Crosspointe Elementary School

To learn more about the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County and how it supports local schools, students, and teachers, click here.

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