ACPS Announces Finalists for Teacher of the Year Candidate

CUMBERLAND, Md. — March 3, 2026 — Allegany County Public Schools teachers Kara Breedlove, Kathy Brown, Elaine Davis, Laurie Ferguson and Ian Saville have been selected as finalists for Allegany County’s submission for the Maryland Teacher of the Year award. The five teachers advance to a round of in-person interviews on Thursday, March 5, as part of the school system’s final selection process. On Monday, March 9, Superintendent Michael J. Martirano and ACPS Teacher of the Year Committee members will surprise Allegany County’s candidate for the Maryland Teacher of the Year at their home school.

Kara Breedlove, an eighth-grade mathematics teacher at Braddock Middle School, brings more than 25 years of classroom experience across Maryland and West Virginia to her work teaching Algebra 1 and Honors Geometry. Breedlove holds a master’s degree in education administration and supervision and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Frostburg State University. She earned National Board Certification in Early Adolescence Mathematics in 2015, and serves as a National Board Certification coach and trainer for Allegany County Public Schools. As coach of the Braddock Middle School MathCounts team, she has led the program to four consecutive state competition appearances, capturing first place three times and second place once. She also serves as advisor of the school’s S.H.O.P. (Students Helping Other People) program and is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Maryland Education Association.

Kathy Brown, a pre-kindergarten teacher of 3-year-olds at Cresaptown Elementary School, holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood/elementary education from Frostburg State University and a master’s degree in education with an interdisciplinary focus in early childhood and special education. She is a National Board Certified Teacher recognized as an Exceptional Needs Specialist in Early Childhood. Brown builds inclusive classroom cultures through purposeful relationships, consistent communication and shared responsibility, beginning even before the school year starts with summer playgroups that connect families to the classroom environment and to one another. Throughout the year, she deepens those partnerships through monthly family engagement activities, regular newsletters and an online parent portal, while incorporating students’ home languages, cultural traditions and family values into daily learning experiences. A recognized leader beyond her classroom, Brown serves on the Allegany County Public Schools Blueprint Pillar 1 Early Childhood Education Committee and her school’s Leadership Team, and presents professional development for preschool educators on relationship-building, classroom culture and supporting diverse learners.

Elaine Davis, an eighth-grade science teacher at Mount Savage Middle School, has built a distinctive career around project-based, place-based science education rooted in her dual graduate training in sustainable development and teaching. Davis holds a master’s degree in teaching from Frostburg State University and a master’s degree in sustainable development and conservation biology from the University of Maryland. She leads her school’s Green School program and has forged community partnerships with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Allegany College of Maryland to provide students with hands-on environmental learning experiences. A certified facilitator for Project WILD, Project WET and Project Learning Tree, she has provided professional development to more than 100 educators statewide and presented her spider biodiversity unit at a statewide conference in 2020. Davis was also selected to serve on the Maryland State Department of Education’s Content Review Committee for the MISA science assessment, using that experience to strengthen science instruction across Allegany County.

Laurie Ferguson, a reading intervention teacher at Bel Air Elementary School, brings nearly four decades of classroom experience to her work helping students in kindergarten through fifth grade build foundational literacy skills. Ferguson earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in special education from Loyola College in Baltimore. She is trained in LETRS, Heggerty and Orton-Gillingham reading methodologies and works collaboratively with general and special educators to deliver explicit, systematic reading instruction aligned with Maryland’s Blueprint for the Future. She has served on school improvement, climate, safety, wellness and PBIS teams while mentoring numerous teacher interns throughout her career. In 2016 and 2017, Ferguson was selected by Child Care Aware of America as one of 25 mothers nationwide to advocate before members of Congress for safe, affordable and accessible early childhood education, an experience that directly informed expanded pre-K and Head Start programming now available in her community.

Ian Saville, an automotive technology instructor at the Center for Career and Technical Education combines more than 26 years of professional industry experience with 11 years in the classroom to prepare students for careers in the modern automotive field. Saville holds a Ford Senior Master Technician certification and earned his teaching credentials through WVU Institute of Technology and Chesapeake College. He has updated his program’s ASE/NATEF standards and actively partners with local dealerships to develop job shadowing and internship opportunities for students. He leads his school’s SkillsUSA chapter and previously helped pilot the West Virginia Simulated Workplace Program, a statewide initiative to bring real-world professional expectations into career and technical education classrooms. In 2022, Saville was nominated by a former student and recognized by the National Society of High School Scholars. He earlier guided student teams to back-to-back first-place finishes at the West Virginia Ford/AAA Automotive Skills Contest in 2012 and 2013.

Additional information about the Allegany County Public Schools’ participation in the Maryland Teacher of the Year program, including past ACPS finalists, is available online at acpsmd.org. 

Media Contact: Kris Kehrwald, Public Information Officer, 301-759-2031