A high school English teacher and a middle school science/drama/art teacher are the two Sacramento County Teachers of the Year 2023. The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) revealed the winners Friday evening at its countywide teacher recognition dinner.
Rachel Baird is an 11th- and 12th-grade English teacher at Cosumnes Oaks High School (Elk Grove Unified School District). Logan Grinsell is a 6th- and 8th-grade science, drama, and art teacher at John Barrett Middle School (San Juan Unified School District). Both teachers are now eligible to advance to the statewide competition where five teachers will be chosen as California Teachers of the Year.
KTXL 40 interviewed the two winning teachers during its 9 a.m. news program this morning. The Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) is also producing a video of the awards program.
- Video: KTXL 40 News Interview (8/29/22)
- Video: SECC Teachers of the Year 2022 Celebration Recording
(Also airs on Comcast Channel 15: 4:30 p.m. on 9/17 & 9/18, and 9 a.m. on 9/18 & 9/25)
After the names of the two winners were revealed at the dinner, Sacramento County Board of Education President Paul A. Keefer, MBA, Ed.D., presented the new County Teachers of the Year with the Elinor Lincoln Hickey Award of Merit, the highest honor bestowed by the Board. The Sacramento Scottish Rite also continued a long-running tradition of awarding perpetual trophies to the winners, which were presented this year by Ivan Guzman.
Throughout the school year, the Sacramento-area teachers who competed at the county level are honored at events, including ones hosted by the Sacramento Kings and River Cats. The Sacramento Republic FC already honored the teachers earlier this month.
The two winners join an elite group of teachers who have represented Sacramento County over the years. Previous Sacramento County Teachers of the Year are listed online—including Elinor Hickey, the namesake of the award the teachers received. Hickey was County Teacher of the Year 1978 and a SCOE community school is named after her.
About the County Teachers of the Year Program
A selection committee comprised of education professionals, including previous Sacramento County Teachers of the Year, interviewed 12 local district Teachers of the Year and chose the two winners. All local educational agencies are invited to nominate a teacher to participate in the program each year. (Large districts are eligible to nominate two teachers.) The program is presented by SCOE in partnership with the Sacramento Kings, the Sacramento Republic FC, the Sacramento River Cats, Intel Corporation Folsom, SAFE Credit Union, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, and the Sacramento Scottish Rite.
