One of Osceola County's own is Florida's newest statewide Teacher of the Year.
Harmony High alum and lifelong Osceola County resident Kyndall Brown, the Harmony Middle School’s agricultural teacher, has been named the 2027 Florida Teacher of the Year by the Florida Department of Education at a ceremony Thursday night.
Brown was selected from among five Teacher of the Year finalists through a rigorous selection process. As Florida's 2027 Teacher of the Year, she will serve for one year as the Christa McAuliffe Ambassador for Education, representing Florida's educators and advocating for students across the state.
When she was named Osceola County's Teacher of the Year in January, she said that award was "bigger than me."
"It represents generations of families who built agriculture here, and students like I once was who will carry it forward," she said then. “Long before I taught class as a teacher, I was taught that learning happens best when you’re allowed to get your hands dirty. That’s what I preach in my classroom, and I hope to be teaching agriculture for the rest of my career. I get to do what I love every single day.”
Thursday, after winning her award, Brown said she's "incredibly honored" to advocate for the teachers, educators and students across the state of Florida.
"I'm so excited to represent agriculture education, our students, Osceola County and everything exciting that we're doing," she said.
Osceola County School District Dr. Mark Shanoff called Brown "the best ambassador for the field of teaching."
"There's nobody who can really really represent Osceola County quite the way she does, representing agriculture, FFA, everything that's an anchor economy in our school district," he said. "It's really a victory for all teachers across Osceola County and so proud she'll be representing Osceola County across the state."