Perry, Muchmore honored at district Education awards

East Lake Elementary fifth-grade teacher Tiffany Perry was named Osceola’s Teacher of the Year, and Community Relations Specialist Janae Muchmore was named the District’s School-Related Employee of the Year last Thursday night at the Osceola School District 2023 Education Awards ceremony.

They will now be in the running for Florida’s state recognition in their categories.

The well-attended event was emceed by Spectrum News 13 meteorologist Maureen McCann. The night began with a short but sincere tribute to Superintendent Dr. Debra Pace, who is retiring after this year.

“She has led with compassion, grace, strength, courage and integrity,” praised last year’s Osceola Teacher of the Year Taylor Kuwik.

The evening’s event highlighted not only the two winners, but also the 10 finalists for each award, presenting the work they are doing and the impact it has in 20 informative, well-produced video clips that showed the finalists at work.

They will now be in the running for Florida’s state recognition in their categories.

Perry: Loves that “Light bulb moment”

Among Perry’s accomplishments, she has successfully implemented Socratic Seminars into the classroom, which engages students to ask and answer questions together using critical thinking and through examining different points of view to improve their writing skills. She also has worked to integrate the latest technologies into the classroom by introducing the Hour of Code, and introduced students to the engineering design process by working with them to code robots to follow a path.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I really love learning and seeing that light bulb moment. And that’s just continued growing. I want my students to feel empowered every day and if I can help lead them to that, then I’ve absolutely done my job,” she said.

A graduate of Osceola public schools, Perry attended the University of Central Florida, and has worked at East Lake Elementary since her graduation seven years ago.

When asked about her favorite part of the job, she replies “All of it. When my students get really excited about something and they start asking questions rapid fire, that’s my favorite part every day. They get so into things and see things in different ways that I would have never thought about or expected and it’s amazing.”

Perry ended her remarks by saying “I cannot wait to tell my kids tomorrow!”

“Ms. Perry provides students opportunities to figure out who they are as learners and as people,” said Dr. Pace. “They may not remember every lesson she teaches, but they know without a doubt that they can be successful in school, and that she will always be there to cheer them on.”

Muchmore: “At home now” with the District

Muchmore joined the District as a Community Relations Specialist in 2021 after being a television news reporter, and brought her technical knowledge and digital story-telling ability to the position, expanding the district’s use of videos and social media.

“Throughout the nomination process my team really gets to know the finalists. In fact, (staff) even asked me to go out to each of the schools and departments and record those wonderful videos you just saw.” Muchmore said during her remarks, adding afterwards “ Just hearing the work that they do each and every day is incredible.”

Muchmore spoke of her switch from television news to school district employee after the ceremony. “Once COVID hit, the stories became very negative, as it can become in the news world, and I just wanted a different, positive change. I found a job here at the Osceola County School District and fit right in with the community relations team, being that bridge of communication between parents and our schools and the teachers and the students,” she said. “I feel at home now. I still get to do what I love which is go out and report, but I’m just doing it for the district.”

“I am extremely proud of how Janae represents the district as she continues to soar in her field by telling the stories through her creative lens to build an army of education advocates and showcase our schools, students, and staff,” said Superintendent Pace.