Three local school districts have honored those who are the best among them.

Bertie County Schools, Hertford County Public Schools and Northampton County Schools have each named their 2009 Teacher of the Year.

These three teachers stood out amongst a group of deserving school-level honorees to become the Teacher of the Year. They are hard-working, loyal and sincere teachers who have risen to the top of their profession.

Bertie County Schools honored Carol Mizelle, a science teacher at Bertie Middle School, for her excellent work in the classroom while Hertford County Public Schools chose Craig Dennis, an art teacher at Riverview Elementary School. Northampton County Schools tabbed Elizabeth Thiele, a fourth grade teacher at Squire Elementary School.

We congratulate these three teachers for a job well done. We offer them all our sincerest best wishes as they move through the Regional Teacher of the Year process and, hopefully, on to the state’s Teacher of the Year.

We also wish to say congratulations to those who were honored by their own school. That honor in and of itself is deserving of recognition. It means the teacher has done an outstanding job according to those who work around them every day.

Furthermore, we say thank you to those professional educators who spend day after day in our classrooms doing the best for the students of this region. We salute you for doing your job well and working diligently to make our students second to none.

Thank you to each and every teacher in the region.