“If a door has ever been closed to you, this is for you. If you’ve ever been told, or made to feel that you did not belong, this is for you,” began Kanesha Roberts as she accepted Richmond County School System’s 2026 Teacher of the Year Award. “If you’ve ever doubted yourself, let me remind you tonight what God has for you, is definitely for you!”
Chef Roberts, a culinary arts teacher in George P. Butler Comprehensive High School’s Career, Technical & Agricultural Education (CTAE) program, was selected out of six finalists for the award, from among 55 teachers throughout the school district acknowledged as teachers of the year.
Educators, administrators and school district leaders gathered for the yearly awards banquet at the Marriott Convention Center, Thursday night. School Superintendent Malinda Cobb presented teachers of the year with their awards as they strolled a red carpet and received congratulations from their peers.
Prizes set aside for this year’s winner included $5,000, donated by event sponsors, along with $500 and a golden peach paperweight from Peach State Credit Union, a diamond necklace courtesy of Windsor Jewelers, and a one-year car lease donated by Murphy Auto Group and the Dr. Mac Bowman Horizon Foundation.
Roberts underscored a passionate care for her students and their struggles, to encourage them to persevere, by seeing and acknowledging “the entire child.”
“It can’t always be about a test score. ‘Did you get this right? Why did you get this wrong?’ What are you doing wrong?” she said. “When those children know that you care, when they believe in you as a teacher, that’s the best thing… They believe you when they believe in you. That’s the most important thing.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering general reporting for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com
