Meet the 2025 SCOLT Teachers of the Year!

Each state in the SCOLT region can send a Teacher of the Year candidate to SCOLT. Candidates participate in interviews on the Thursday of the conference and are honored at the Opening General Session. The SCOLT Teacher of the Year is announced at the Opening General Session and this person represents SCOLT in the ACTFL Teacher of the Year process. Each state’s Teacher of the Year is a model language educator.

Click on each picture to hear how the state Teacher of the Year answered the question, “What advice would you give someone starting the profession?”.

Jemma Lee

Alabama

Melinda Zeliff

Florida

Stephanie Bellot-Donaldson

Kentucky

Shay Steckler

Louisiana

Collette Field

Mississippi

Emily Burrus

North Carolina

Yeider Guerra

South Carolina

Jana Engle

Tennessee

Lauren Paz Soldan

Virginia

2025 SCOLT Region Teachers of the Year