Three Cobb County educators will compete for the district's overall Teacher of the Year title by the end of August, with the winner earning a one-year car lease from Ed Voyles Automotive and a shot at representing Georgia's public schools statewide.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale surprised the three level winners at their campuses on Thursday, Aug. 6: Kylie Hardy, the lead ESOL teacher at Mableton Elementary; Ebony Collier, a chorus teacher at Tapp Middle School; and Lisa Peacock, a biology teacher at Osborne High School. Each received a crystal apple, a challenge coin and the car lease.

None of the winners teach in East Cobb's Walton, Pope, Lassiter or Wheeler feeder zones. Last year, Pope High School special education teacher Amanda Dillard won the district title and went on to become a Top 10 finalist for Georgia's Teacher of the Year.

What happens next

District interviews with the three finalists begin the week of Tuesday, Aug. 11, according to the Marietta Daily Journal. The overall winner will be announced by month's end and will go on to compete for Georgia Teacher of the Year. If named the state winner, that teacher receives a paid year away from the classroom to travel and speak on behalf of public education and keeps the leased car permanently.

The winners

Kylie Hardy, Mableton Elementary (ESOL)

Hardy leads a five-person ESOL team that works daily with international students who arrive speaking no English. She is in her 12th year as an educator and has taught at Mableton since 2019. Hardy is enrolled in BEST, the district's teacher development program, and expects to graduate in December.

Hardy told the district in a profile published Aug. 7 that many of her students arrive knowing nothing about the English language, with some never having attended school before. She said she nearly quit teaching multiple times before finding ESOL, a pathway she described as one she "fell in love" with.

The news caught her off guard. When Ragsdale arrived at Mableton, Hardy said she was "totally fooled" by a school-wide assembly her staff had organized as cover.

Ebony Collier, Tapp Middle School (chorus)

Collier arrived at Tapp in 2022 having never taught middle schoolers. She entered the profession through Georgia's alternative certification program and has since built the school's chorus program from scratch, adding theater experiences that became some of Tapp's most popular offerings.

"She brought that to Tapp, and that is what makes her a Cobb County Teacher of the Year," Tapp principal Alvin Thomas told the Marietta Daily Journal. "Not the fact that she's just teaching, she's innovating … [and] charting territory that is not here."

Three anonymous colleagues nominated Collier for the award. The selection process is student-driven at the school level: students vote for their favorite teacher, making it a bottom-up recognition.

Lisa Peacock, Osborne High School (biology)

Peacock spent more than 30 years mentoring and tutoring young people before entering a public school classroom in 2019. Her teaching philosophy centers on movement, collaboration and hands-on learning. She accepted her crystal apple while clutching a stuffed goat, having just been named her biology department's G.O.A.T. ("greatest of all time") for August.

Three anonymous colleagues also nominated Peacock. She told the district she was once discouraged from taking students outside or incorporating games into lessons but returned to education years later and found a profession that valued creativity.

For East Cobb families

The Teacher of the Year process starts with student votes at every Cobb school. School-level winners advance to area and then district competition. East Cobb schools have produced district winners in recent cycles, including Dillard at Pope in the 2025 cycle, but none of the four flagship feeders advanced a level winner this year. The district-wide announcement, expected by the end of August, will determine who represents Cobb County at the state level.