Students danced. Teachers danced. Even principals danced and joined the students in waving colorful posters and pom poms. When they saw their school’s teacher of the year, they erupted in cheers while rocking cardboard cutouts of their teacher’s face above their heads.

More than 112 teachers from across Cobb County paraded into the Cobb Chamber’s Give Our Schools a Hand celebratory pep rally. The packed house of students at Roswell Street Baptist Church welcomed the Cobb Teachers of the Year, like famous celebrities.

After all, they are superstars to the students. They are the ones who taught the students how to read. They are the ones who worked with the students after school to help them master a new math concept. They are the ones who opened their students’ eyes to new career options. They are the ones who believed in the students. They are the students’ heroes. 

The extra excitement bouncing off the walls of the Teacher of the Year pep rally could be because the 2022 event served as the first time the Cobb community and students were able to come together for the pep rally since before the start of the pandemic.  

Before the pep rally kicked off, the Cobb community honored the county’s top educators with a special breakfast. The rockin’ pep rally and breakfast came on the heels of the Cobb Chamber’s Teacher of the Year Handprint Ceremony, which honored the Cobb Schools District Teacher of the Year Jenifer Mitacek of Argyle Elementary School. 

“The community events recognizing our educators show that it is just better in Cobb. No other community in Georgia or the country celebrates the devotion of teachers like we do in Cobb. I am so proud these teachers are part of the Cobb Schools team. They are the driving force behind student success,” said Cobb Schools Board of Education Chair David Chastain. 

In August, Superintendent Ragsdale announced Jenifer Mitacek as the District’s Teacher of the Year,  and before the school year began, he announced the three District Level Teachers of the Year.

During the pep rally, Cobb’s three District Level TOTYs and Marietta City’s District Level winner took the stage for a drawing to determine which brand of new car they will drive free for a year courtesy of the Ed Voyles Automotive Group. If one of the District Teachers of the Year is selected as Georgia’s Teacher of the Year, the Cobb teacher will keep the keys to the new car forever!