MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – Marion County Public Schools (MCPS) has recognized the outstanding achievements of high-performing teachers with Golden Apples.

Although these tangible Golden Apples do not satisfy appetite, they serve as an admirable district recognition piece for the employees.

The Public Education Foundation of Marion County (PEFMC) annually orchestrates the Golden Apple Teacher Recognition Program. The program honored seven teachers with Golden Apples this year, with six of the seven serving as nominations for the district’s “Teacher of the Year” at the Golden Apple Gala in February.

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In addition, the foundation honors a lucky first-year teacher with the “Rookie Teacher of the Year” award and a worker with a separate “District’s School-Related Employee of the Year” award.

An entourage, including Superintendent of Schools Dr. Diane Gullett and MCPS board members, surprised the recipients on Wednesday morning. They traveled 120 miles around the district to hand out the awards in person.

The Golden Apple recipients and finalists for Marion County’s 2025 Teacher of the Year include:

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  • Joel Kunz, a history teacher from Dunnellon Middle School, has spent his entire teaching career — 14 years — in MCPS classrooms.
  • Jennifer Aderholt, a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten teacher at Eighth Street Elementary. She joined MCPS in 2016 and has 20 years of classroom teaching experience.
  • Sarah Burfening, a fifth-grade math and science teacher at Madison Street Academy. She joined MCPS in 2015 and has 19 years of classroom teaching experience.
  • Joan Edwards, a math teacher at North Marion Middle. She has spent all 11 years of her teaching career in Marion County classrooms and joined MCPS in 2013.
  • Kristin Wilson, a fourth-grade math and science teacher at Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary. She joined MCPS in 2003 and has spent her entire teaching career in local classrooms.
  • Sarah Jacobs, a ninth and tenth-grade English teacher at West Port High. She has 12 years of teaching experience, including the last four years in MCPS.
  • Second-year Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary teacher Courtney Morris was named Marion County’s 2025 Rookie Teacher of the Year. Morris joined MCPS two years ago and, like all rookie teachers, has no more than three years of classroom teaching experience.

MCPS also handed out its School-Related Employee of the Year honor to Franchesca Jiminez, a discipline clerk at Liberty Middle School. She has worked at Liberty for two years and was nominated for “consistently fostering a supportive and inclusive work environment and is always willing to help others and fill in where needed,” says the PEFMC.

The six Golden Apple recipients, Rookie Teacher of the Year, and School-Related Employee of the Year will all participate in the Golden Apple Gala on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, at 7 p.m. at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala. The event will be live on the Marion Education Channel and live-streamed on the district’s YouTube channel.

At the Gala, one of the six finalists will be named Marion County’s 2025 Golden Apple Teacher of the Year and drive away in a new, pre-paid, three-year leased Acura Integra from Jenkins Auto Group.