BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford County native Shanon “Shane” Kiser was named Leon County’s Glenn Howell Distinguished Educator of the Year.
“I still feel at a loss for words,” said Kiser, who learned he was the award recipient on Oct. 27. Kiser, a 2010 Bradford High School graduate and son of Emanuel “Joe” and Cassandra Kiser, works at Tallahassee’s Springwood Elementary School.
The annual award is named after Devurn Glenn, Leon County’s first Black assistant superintendent of schools, and Aquilina Howell, who was the first Black woman to serve the district as assistant superintendent. Howell also played a role in helping to desegregate Leon schools.
“We are incredibly proud of Shanon Kiser’s selection as Leon County School’s Glenn Howell Distinguished Educator,” Springwood Principal Sylvia Lynn said. “His work has helped to transform the way we serve students, turning data into directions, challenges into opportunities, and growth into a shared victory for our entire school.”
Kiser, who is Springwood’s intervention coach and technology support lead, said nothing seemed unusual about his day when the school’s math coach sent him a text message asking him to accompany her on a walkthrough to observe one of the math teachers. He had his Surface Pro, ready to take notes, while the match coach had her phone out.
“We oftentimes do trainings where we have teachers allow us to video certain parts of their lesson so that we can show other teachers a great example of what something looks like,” Kiser said. “She had her phone out, and she’s recording a certain part of the lesson. Again, I think nothing of it because it’s typical. It’s nothing different.”
Yet it was different. The coach was preparing to record Kiser upon learning that he was the award winner.
The ordinary soon became out of the ordinary as a parade of people entered the classroom Kiser was in, beginning with Springwood administrators and district-level administrators.
“The line just keeps coming,” Kiser said.” Then, I see my mom and my little brother. I see my pastor and bishop and my (former Springwood) principal.
“Literally, it was like person after person.”
Even though he knew receiving the award was a possibility since he was named one of five finalists for the honor, Kiser said, “It was a great surprise.”
From nominee to finalist to winner
Leon County consists of 43 schools. Each school nominates a teacher for the Glenn Howell Distinguished Educator of the Year. Each nominee submits a packet to a central person, with the packet including their nomination form and letter of recommendation from their principal or assistant principal. The person who receives the packets redacts the nominees’ names and any information that would indicate what schools they work at. The information is then sent to a committee, which selects five finalists and then the winner.
“That selection committee consists of past winners, administrators, district personnel and people who are just in the community,” Kiser said.
Kiser said he was on another campus when he learned of his selection as a finalist on Oct. 17 — a Friday. He was at Florida State University School (often referred to as Florida High), helping with some tech issues, when Lynn called him. She asked him if he saw the news. When Kiser replied he had been too busy working to be aware of any news, Lynn asked him to check his email.
The surprise must’ve registered on his face because the people he was with asked him, “Is everything OK?”
“I was like, “The craziest thing happened. Apparently, I made top five for the Glenn Howell Distinguished Educator Award.’ They all congratulated me,” Kiser said.
He then looked at his phone and saw that he had 50-some text messages from people congratulating him.
“It still didn’t hit me at that point,” Kiser said. “I was still in kind of disbelief.”
The five finalists all participated in interviews with the selection committee, which were scheduled one week from the announcement of the finalists, so the reality eventually sunk in.
“It wasn’t until Monday when I was back at school when I realized, ‘Man, I’ve got this interview on Friday. I’ve got no idea what these people are going to want to hear or want me to say or want to ask me.’ I think that’s when it really hit me,” Kiser said.
Kiser was the last of the finalists to interview with the committee. He found out later that the committee made its decision to name him the Glenn Howell Distinguished Educator of the Year following the conclusion of that interview.
Upon his return to his school, Kiser said his principal called him into her office to ask him how the interview went. While he was talking to her, she received a phone call. Lynn told Kiser she had to take the call, so he waited outside her office until she was done.
“I didn’t know that it was the assistant superintendent calling her to let her know that I had won,” Kiser said.
Kiser said Lynn called him back into the office and asked him to continue his story, never letting on that she already knew he was to be announced as the award winner.
Lynn wasn’t the only one able to keep a secret. The principal communicated with Kiser’s wife, Megan, via text messages, telling her he won the award and asking her to contact friends and family to see if any would be able to go to the school and help surprise Kiser with the official announcement.
“The whole weekend my wife knew. I had no clue that she knew,” Kiser said, adding, “She somehow orchestrated everything between Friday night and Sunday afternoon.”
Going into education
Kiser was working with students before he even graduated from high school, whether it was serving as a tutor for one of his BHS teachers or assisting the Concerned Citizens of Bradford County with its afterschool and summer programs.
“I’ve always enjoyed working with students and teaching students,” Kiser said.
He went to Santa Fe College for two years, earning his AA degree, and then attended Florida State University. He graduated from there with his degree in Elementary Education in the spring of 2014.
Kiser interned at Springwood Elementary School his final two semesters at FSU. He was hired at Springwood after graduating. He taught third grade his first five years and then taught fourth grade his sixth grade for the 2019-20. Kiser was then asked if he would serve as the school’s digital academy site coordinator, beginning with the 2020-21 year.
“I was basically the principal of our digital academy,” Kiser said.
He became an intervention coach in 2021, saying his job “was basically to get our intervention program up and going — to help reach our lowest students and pull them up to grade level and then enrich our higher students, to continue to make sure they didn’t just learn, but learned at their own individual level — be it on grade level or above.”
It’s a job he still does, but he added the additional duties of technology support lead this school year. His technology predecessor retired at the end of the 2024-25 year. She had health issues that limited her physical movements. Kiser said he assisted her during her final year. That led to Lynn asking Kiser if he’d be willing to step into the position.
“I kind of have two jobs as of this year,” Kiser said.
Everything he does at the school hasn’t gone unnoticed. Kiser said when he told his school’s math coach that he didn’t feel like he deserved to be nominated for the Glenn Howell Distinguished Educator of the Year honor, she replied, “You do probably more on this campus than anybody.”
“That in itself was kind of overwhelming, that these other teachers see what I do, and they felt I deserved this nomination,” Kiser said.
Lynn said, “Shanon leads with humility and consistency,” Lynn said. “He is the kind of educator who doesn’t seek the spotlight, but somehow makes others shine. This award isn’t just a recognition of his talent — it’s a celebration of his heart for students, his belief in his colleagues, and the lasting impact he’s made on my leadership team and on our entire school community.”
