The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) revealed the two Sacramento County Teachers of the Year 2024 on Friday evening at its countywide teacher recognition ceremony. Jamie Davis is a 4th-grade teacher at Union House Elementary School (Elk Grove Unified School District). Donja Harding is a 6th–12th-grade history and social studies teacher at Leroy Greene Academy (Natomas 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 morning news program today.
The Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) is also producing a video of the awards program that will air on Comcast channel 15, AT&T U-Verse channel 14, and Consolidated Communications channel 21 on the following dates:
- Saturday, September 23 (4 p.m.)
- Sunday, September 24 (9 a.m.)
- Saturday, October 7 (4 p.m.)
- Sunday, October 8 (9 a.m.)
- Saturday, October 28 (4 p.m.)
- Sunday, October 29 (9 a.m.)
The awards program video will also be streamed on the SECC website.
After the names of the two winners were revealed at the dinner, Sacramento County Board of Education President Bina Lefkovitz 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 by Ivan Guzman.
- Why We Teach: Sacramento County Teachers of the Year 2024 Share What Inspires Them—excerpts from the teachers’ application essays
What’s Next?
Throughout the school year, the district Teachers of the Year are honored at events, including ones anticipated to be hosted by the Sacramento Kings, Sacramento River Cats, and Sacramento Republic FC. The River Cats recognition is generously sponsored by SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union.
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 County Teacher of the Year 1978. She served for many years as a County Board of Education trustee, and a SCOE community school was named for her.
About the County Teachers of the Year Program
A committee of education professionals—including previous Sacramento County Teachers of the Year—interviewed local district Teachers of the Year and selected 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, and the Sacramento Scottish Rite.
Update 9/19/23: Added new SECC broadcast dates.
