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Roseann Byrd, a teacher at Citronelle High School, has been named a finalist for Alabama Teacher of the Year, the Alabama Department of Education announced. Chosen to represent middle and high schools in state school board District 5, Byrd is now one of the “Sweet 16” finalists. The state will name its Teacher of the Year in May.

Byrd has been teaching for 19 years, the last 11 at Citronelle High School, where she leads Advanced Placement courses in U.S. History, Psychology, and American Government and Politics. She is the school’s Social Studies Department Chair, serves on the Leadership Team, coaches the Academic Team and is Student Council Sponsor. After learning about and researching the A+ College Ready Program, she was instrumental in implementing it at Citronelle High with the goal of improving instructional rigor and raising the school’s state report card grade. The program played a pivotal role in fostering success in Advanced Placement coursework for teachers and students at Citronelle, and resulted in tangible success when the school’s state report card grade rose by 11 points one year later.

Byrd is inspired by the expanding use of transformative technologies to enhance her students’ skills in critical thinking and innovation. “To be an educator is to embrace the ever-evolving nature of our field with courage and hope,” she said. “The work we do is more than a career; it is a mission that changes lives, shapes communities, and creates possibilities for generations to come.”

Byrd was named ÌÒ×ÓÊÓƵ County’s High School Teacher of the Year in January.

MCPSS was home to Alabama’s Teacher of the Year in 2018, and has had a great track record of finalists since then. That includes Alabama’s Secondary Teachers of the Year in 2020 and 2022, a Final Four finalist in 2021, and several other Sweet 16 finalists.