Six Richmond County School System (RCSS) teachers received surprising news during the middle of their school day when Superintendent Dr. Malinda Cobb and the school system’s Teacher of the Year planning committee announced the top finalists for the annual award on Friday, August 15.

“We had an incredibly competitive selection process this year,” said Dr. Melissa Shepard, chief human resources officer. “So many of our 54 school-level Teachers of the Year qualified that we increased the number of finalists from five to six. Each of these teachers represents the very best of Richmond County and the deep commitment our educators have to students.”

The 2026 RCSS Teacher of the Year finalists are Audrey Crosby of Jenkins-White Elementary School, Latonya Jackson of John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School, Chef Kanesha Roberts of George P. Butler High School, LaShanda Mills of Richmond Hill Elementary School, Kristina Istre of A.R. Johnson Health Science and Engineering Magnet School, and Andrie McFadden of the Marion E. Barnes Career Center.

Audrey Crosby is an art teacher at Jenkins-White Elementary School with 20 years of teaching experience. Crosby began her RCSS career at T.W. Josey High School, where she taught from 2005 to 2014, and returned to the district in 2023 at Jenkins-White. She serves as chair of the art department and the Sunshine Committee and also works as a teacher mentor. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Tennessee State University and a Master of Education in curriculum and instruction from Augusta State University.