HILTON HEAD ISLAND EDUCATOR NAMED 2022-23 DISTRICT TEACHER OF THE YEAR

LaVerne Stewart, who teaches English Language Arts at Hilton Head Island Middle School, was named Beaufort County’s 2022-2023 District Teacher of the Year. Stewart has 22 years of teaching experience. The four other finalists were Kinsey Butler at Bluffton Middle School; Justine Hardy at Battery Creek High School; Karri Kearns at May River High School; and Jennifer Lyles at Coosa Elementary School. Stewart’s mother, Vernell Speaks-Stewart, was also a seventh-grade ELA educator in Beaufort County.