Ronnique Major Hundley Named Elementary Teacher of The Year
onnique Major Hundley was named Sarasota County School District’s 2024 Elementary School Teacher of the Year representing Emma E. Booker Elementary School. In addition to Major-Hundley, Dennis Pinna was named High School Teacher of the Year and Haley Brown was named Middle School Teacher of the Year. Pinna teaches at North Port High School and Brown teaches at Pine View School.
In partnership with Sarasota County Schools, the Education Foundation of Sarasota County celebrates these educators through the Ignite Education Teacher of the Year Award Celebration. Each district school nominates its honoree, and of those teachers, an elementary, a middle school, and a high school Teacher of the Year are selected. From these three educators, one is chosen for Sarasota County Teacher of the Year.
Major-Hundley is a fifth grade teacher at Emma E. Booker Elementary School. She is a product of Sarasota County Public Schools. Although she has been teaching at Emma E. for 25 years, her teaching career began in Prince George’s County, Maryland. This 2023 school year marks her 30th year in education. As a teacher, she would often be seen celebrating the accomplishments of her students with visits from her former students. Not every child she has connected with sat in her classroom. She makes herself available to other students that she sees who may need guidance, an encouraging word, or even a hug.
“We connect and eventually they become mine,” Major-Hundley said.
One of Major-Hundley’s goals has been to be the best teacher she possibly could. “I would like to be remembered as the teacher who got to know her students beyond them being a student in my class,” she said.
“I want to be thought of as a teacher who was in their corner when they felt they had no one else, who told my students that they were capable and that I believed in them no matter how the outlook seemed.”
This year’s Ignite Education Teacher of the Year Award Celebration will be held on Wednesday, December 13, at the Venice Community Center. Forty-six school-based Teacher of the Year finalists will be honored, and one of the three finalists will be named the Sarasota County Teacher of the Year. One teacher will also be recognized as the Innovation Teacher of the Year.
