Apex students celebrate Wake County's Teacher of the Year

APEX, N.C. (WTVD) -- Students at Apex Friendship Middle School celebrated Lindsey Evans on Friday, who was named 2019-2020 Teacher of the Year for the Wake County Public School System.

Teachers and students lined the halls of the middle school with signs, confetti and chants.

Evans got emotional seeing all the students honoring her.

"Suddenly here's an entire grade level with the band and just seeing my colleagues and kids I don't even teach cheering," Evans said. "That was cool."

"I was also getting very emotional," said student Nevaeh Lotman. "I just love her, honestly, and she just deserves every bit of it."

Evans has been teaching for more than nine years.

"It's all her leadership, too," said Apex Friendship Middle School Eighth Grade Assistant Principal David Turley. "She is eighth grade team chair. She's on our leadership team. She's on our school improvement team. She's in charge of the hospitality committee. She serves on a school improvement committee as well. She does so much around the school as a leader."

Evans' leadership and connection to students are among the reasons she was chosen.

"She has such a positive impact on (students') lives," Turley said. "They all love her. They all feel safe in her room."

"It's the greatest feeling as a student when you walk into a classroom and your teacher cares not just about your test scores but about how you're progressing in class," said student Alex Watson.

Evans said she works to capture the hearts of her students.

"They do what's right and they work so hard to achieve success and to master everything that we put before them," Evans said. "But beyond that I know that they're going to be remarkable people that we unleash to the world."

Evans graduated from North Carolina State University. Teacher of the Year candidates were nominated and elected by their peers at their schools. Nominees then had to develop an "e-portfolio" and short video highlighting their work and philosophy around teaching.

She was named at an event Thursday at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Evans also received a $1,000 check and if she moves forward, she can potentially go on to compete for the state teacher of the year honors, a Wake County Public School System spokesman said.