The Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District has named Carrboro Elementary School teacher Briana Corke the district teacher of the year.

Karen Galassi-Ferrer of East Chapel Hill High School and Kay Lawson-Demery of Chapel Hill High School were named honor teachers.

Corke, who teaches the fourth- grade Spanish Dual Language class, was named the Gold Star Teacher by SunTrust and received a check for $1,000 and various gift certificates from local area businesses.

Galassi-Ferrer, who teaches Spanish and AVID at East, and Lawson-Demery, who teaches social studies teacher at CHHS, were designated as Gold Star Honor Teachers. Each received checks for $500 from SunTrust, as well as gift certificates from area businesses.

Corke has four years of teaching experience. She began her teaching career in 2003 when she came to Carrboro Elementary. She received bachelor's degrees in elementary education and English from UNC.

She received National Board certification in 2007 as a middle childhood generalist, was a Kenan Fellow and received the Excellence in Elementary Science Teaching Award from UNC-Greensboro.

Corke is the grade level chair at Carrboro Elementary. She serves on the school's Leadership Committee and is the Student Services Team co-chair. She has also been a mentor teacher for novice teachers since 2005. She organized and facilitated the school's Hispanic Parent Night in February. She also does home visits for struggling students, meeting with families in their homes to share strategies and activities that can be done at home to support students' learning.

"In choosing to become a teacher, I wanted to examine how students' resilient attributes could be utilized in making them high achievers instead of at risk for academic failure," she said. "I feel now, as I did when I chose to become a teacher, that all children are capable of academic excellence, regardless of their hardships."

Corke will represent the district at the next level in regional competition.