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RIDGELY – A history teacher at North Caroline High School was named the 2025-2026 Teacher of the Year for Caroline County Public Schools during an April 10 ceremony at Cowbarn Events in Ridgely.
Andrew Buffenmyer, who joined the school district in 2009, teaches U.S. History and Advanced Placement U.S. History.
Buffenmyer thanked his “wonderful wife Anna” and school administrators for their support. “Most of all, I want to thank Caroline County for taking a chance on a kid from Pennsylvania years ago, and I couldn't be happier to represent the greatest school system in the entire world,” he said.
He was one of 100 qualified teachers who were nominated. The district has 500 teachers on staff. Members of the committee narrowing down the finalists were Danielle Dennis, Nicole Fisher, Lindsey McCormick, Debbie Siachos and Dr. Rob Willoughby.
Support Employee of the Year
Nicholas Marshall, head custodian at Greensboro Elementary School is the 2025-2026 Support Employee of the Year.
Marshall, who has been employed by CCPS since 2022, thanked his wife Beck, for “putting up with (him) through thick and thin.”
“I thank my parents for teaching me what hard work means,” Marshall said. “(I thank) the best admin I could ask for who support me every day, no matter what, and the staff at Greensboro. I love cutting up with you guys every day.”
Simmons introduced the five nominees in each category with a narrative summary of each nomination.
Besides Marshall, Support Employee of the Year finalists were Jenn Claytor, an instructional assistant at Preston Elementary School; Chadney Ennals, a multilingual instructional assistant at Colonel Richardson High School; Donna Fazenbaker, an instructional assistant at Denton Elementary School and Desiray Korell, a tech support specialist at North Caroline High School.
Members of the committee for determining the Support Employee of the Year finalists were Bill Mengel, Debbie Siachos and Dr. Rob Willoughby.
Simmons said Maryland needs to do more to recognize the contributions of support employees..
“The state does not do a good job of recognizing the other 50% of our employees,” he said. “Without them, we can't do the job. It just doesn't work. And I'm very thankful Caroline County decided in 2018 to move forward with the Support Employee of the Year recognition program.”
Finalists for Teacher of the Year were Thomas Cheezum, band and orchestra director at Colonel Richardson High School; Lisa Dayton, fourth grade teacher at Federalsburg Elementary School; Kimberly Mielke, multilingual science teacher at North Caroline High School; and John Moyer III, physics teacher at North Caroline High School.
Michele Wayman, president of the board of education, welcomed the nearly 200 people who attended the celebration, on behalf of the school board.
“I want to express my sincere respect and appreciation for all those who chose a rewarding and sometimes challenging career of teaching and caring for the students of Caroline County,” Wayman said. “You care for and teach future astronauts, agriculturalists, doctors, attorneys, mechanics and more. You even teach future teachers.”
“Thank you for the outstanding work you do in our classrooms every day,” she said. “We know that each of you are unique, creative and caring educators who love your job.”
The event was catered by the Chesapeake Culinary Center in Denton. Representatives of Educational Systems Federal Credit Union attended. Maryland State Sen. Johnny Mautz couldn’t attend, but sent citations from the Maryland General Assembly.
Simmons recognized the presence of Sheriff Donnie Baker and Capt. R.J. Helmer of the Caroline County Sheriff's Office for “an outstanding partnership.”
Also recognized at the event were teachers and support employees who were honored in previous years since the first Teacher of the Year program in 1987-1987 and the first Support Employees of the Year in 2018-2019.
“This is an incredible and exciting event,” Simmons said, “I must say, I'm blessed. I am blessed to have an incredibly talented and wonderful and supportive Board of Education.”
“Caroline County Public Schools will get that State Teacher of the Year at some point,” Simmons said. “We've had phenomenal people. We keep putting up great teachers of the year, and it's going to happen for us.”
