The 2025 elementary and secondary Educators of the Year were named Wednesday during the annual program held at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

Bowmar Elementary School first grade teacher Lana Claire Morgan was named elementary Educator of the Year and Warren Central High School biology teacher Kimberly Fountain was named secondary Educator of the Year. First runner up for elementary was Porter’s Chapel Academy music teacher Merri (Wyn) Pratt and of First runner up for secondary was St. Aloysius science teacher Stacey Lambiotte.

The teachers were chosen from 21 finalists for the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s Educator of the Year award. Both winners received $1,000 from Ameristar Casino, while both runners-up for each award received $500 from Mutual Credit Union.

Buddy Dees, education chair of the Vicksburg-Warren Partnership, explained the process prior to Wednesday’s announcement.

“So in October, a letter went out from the chamber, from me, to each of the public and private schools in Warren county,” Dees explained. “And each school conducted what should have been a secret ballot. I imagine nobody was looking. And each of these were selected as the outstanding educator at that school. That’s got to be tremendous, whether you’re a doctor or a nurse or a banker or a welder, to be recognized by those in your field that know the best day in and day out of what you do.”

This year’s finalists included Morgan; Fountain; Pratt; Lambiotte; Darlene Taylor from Redwood Elementary; Myra Grey of Warrenton Elementary; Stacey K. Everett of River City Early College; Ashley Jackson of the Academy of Innovation; Betty Autry of St. Francis Xavier Elementary; Angeline DeLancey of Beechwood Elementary; Regina Renot-Mattei of Bovina Elementary; LaKisha R. Mosley of South Park Elementary; Shanda Banks Dixon of Vicksburg Junior High School; Louis Green of Warren Central Junior High School; Allison Johnson Neal of Vicksburg Intermediate School; Jennifer Ammons of Sherman Avenue Elementary; TaMeka Ross of Dana Road Elementary; Kelvin J. Carter of Vicksburg High School; Dorothy McGee of Warren Central Intermediate; Alice Leach of the VWSD Career and Technical Center; and Bruce Robinson of Porter’s Chapel Academy.

Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, Vicksburg-Warren Partnership President and CEO Pablo Diaz said the annual banquet and awards ceremony is one of the most fulfilling undertakings the partnership puts together.

“This is the 36th year that this event has happened where we come together to recognize those who help shape the quality of our future generations,” Diaz said. “The impact of teachers should not be underestimated, but it is. It is in our power as individuals, as a community, and as a society to change that. And to commend them with the recognition, the prestige, and the compensation that their work and vocation deserve.”

Diaz said the true worth of teachers cannot be accurately measured.

“Many of us carry memories of a teacher who inspired us, encouraged us, guided us onto the right path, and in some cases even saved us from a bleak future that we didn’t even realize we were heading towards,” he said. “Your work has been so selfless for so long that perhaps society began to take it for granted. I believe we must pause and reflect on this. We must recognize that the worth of some professions cannot be measured.”