And the Oscar (Galaxy Award) goes to… Lita Stanton for Teacher of the Year and Angelica Lefevers for School-Related Employee of the Year for the Citrus County School District.
In a room clad in golden sequins and glitter, the annual Galaxy of Stars event Monday, Dec. 5, was opened by Superintendent Sandra “Sam” Himmel as she said, “All through COVID, nationwide, our professionals, first responders, and all of our healthcare workers were tabbed as heroes and they well deserved that, but I want you to know that I truly believe that you all are the heroes to me because of what you do every single day. You impact every single one of our kids that come to school.”
All of the nominees for both categories were honored with an award as several guest speakers spoke in between, including Nicholas Catto, previous 2022 District School-Related Employee of the Year, and Kelly Filipic, previous 2023 District Teacher of the Year.
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The 2024 Teacher of the Year award was presented to Lita Stanton, math teacher at Citrus High School.
“I can honestly say that 23 years ago, when I was sitting where my daughter is sitting right now, when my mother walked across this stage, I would never have imagined that I would later do that same thing,” Stanton said in her acceptance speech. “I went into this job just wanting to help kids. … I hope that I have done that over the last 13 years.”
The 2023 School-Related Employee of the Year award was presented to Angelica Lefevers, paraprofessional/ESE at Lecanto Primary School.
“There are so many people qualified for this award, that’s why we’re all nominated,” said Lefevers in her acceptance speech. “I want to thank so much to my administration. They have been very supportive of anything I’ve done through the years that I’ve worked there. They have been a role model and everybody at the school has been supportive as well.”
New this year on top of the monetary gifts given to each nominee, the Jenkins Auto Group presented cars to the winners of the awards. Lefevers received a blue pre-owned Mini Cooper and Stanton received a paid-for three-year lease on a brand new 2023 Kia Forte.
This was the first in-person ceremony held since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, so everyone finally got to enjoy a night spent together highlighting and honoring all of the effort and energy that Citrus County educators put in throughout the year.
The event was held at the CF Citrus Campus and included a catered dinner and awards ceremony funded fully by the Citrus County Education Foundation. It was closed by comments made by Citrus County School Board chairman Doug Dodd.
“We’re so proud of you and we’re so glad that you chose to work at our schools in Citrus County,” said Dodd. “Our community greatly appreciates your efforts. They see your passion for education and they know that you’re making a great investment in the lives of our children.”
Both Stanton and Lefevers will now represent the district at the state level next year to hopefully take home the statewide Teacher of the Year and School-Related Employee of the Year awards.
