Five public school educators are finalists for the 2016 Florida Blue Duval County Teacher of the Year award.
The candidates were selected by a committee of educators, community members and business leaders from a round of semi-finalists.
The teachers will be on stage at the 25th Anniversary EDDY Awards on March 12 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, when one will be named teacher of the year.
The finalists are Douglas Brown, Fletcher High School; Dionne Clayton, Paxon School of Advanced Studies; Kay Park, Alimacani Elementary School; Jaime Plauche, Fishweir Elementary School; and Darryl L. White II, Matthew W. Gilbert Middle School.
The nominees were surprised in their classrooms with a prize patrol that included Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai P. Vitti and DJ the Dog, the Duval County Public Schools mascot.
Tickets to the EDDY Awards, an initiative of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, may be purchased for $55 each at eddyawardsjax.org.
Scott Baldwin named VP at FirstAtlantic Bank
FirstAtlantic Bank has added Scott Baldwin as a vice president and commercial banker to its team.
He’ll be responsible for developing customer relationships in the bank’s targeted markets of small- to medium-sized businesses.
Baldwin has 29 years of financial services experience and most recently was with Axiom Bank.
He’s a board member of Redemptive Leadership International and received a bachelor’s in business administration from the University of North Florida.
FirstAtlantic is a full-service community bank with about $422 million in assets and eight locations in Jacksonville, Orange Park, St. Augustine and Ponte Vedra Beach.
GreenTechnologies heads to the Hill
Jacksonville-based GreenTechnologies recently was honored in Washington, D.C., as one of 11 Small Business Development Center clients from 10 states.
GreenTechnologies is part of the Florida SBDC at the University of North Florida.
The manufacturing company was founded by Amir Varshovi in 1999 and produces environmentally friendly fertilizers. Many in the fertilizer industry use synthetically manufactured or mined chemicals — GreenTechnologies repurposes organic materials from wastewater treatment facilities.
The company operates a 25-acre facility in Jacksonville.
DIA committee meeting Thursday
The Downtown Investment Authority will have a committee meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday on the subject of capital improvement projects. It will be in Conference Room C of the third floor of City Hall.
For more information, call (904) 630-3492.
2016 SEC women’s basketball tournament tickets on sale
The Southeastern Conference 2016 women’s basketball tournament will be in Jacksonville from March 2-6 at Veterans Memorial Arena. This week, the conference announced single-session and weekend mini-package tickets are available.
The weekend mini-pack reserved is $40 and the mini-pack general admission is $25. Both include all games on Saturday and Sunday.
Reserved ticket books also are available for $100 and include admission for all 13 games.
Single session tickets range from $12 to $20 for reserved seating and $8 to $12 for general admission.
It’s the first trip to the arena for the tournament.
For more information, visit bit.ly/SECwbbW.
Dalton Agency CEO and VP headlining Economic Roundtable
Jim Dalton, CEO of The Dalton Agency, and Brendan Cuminsky, vice president of strategy and planning, will be the guests of the next Economic Roundtable of Jacksonville.
The local business-elevation organization will hear about effectively using social media as a primary tool in strategic branding from the Dalton Agency duo. It is part of the organization’s 2015-16 speaker series.
The forum is 11:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m. at Jacksonville University’s Davis College of Business. Tickets are $30.
For more information, visit ertjax.org.
State’s top crossing guard: ‘I love my job’
The Florida Department of Transportation Safety Office recognized Katherine Sasso as the 2015 School Crossing Guard of the Year during a statewide appreciation day.
She is the crossing guard at Middleburg Elementary School in Clay County.
In a news release, Dana Crosby, department administrator for the program, said Sasso exemplifies professionalism and responsibility and is a model guard, dedicated and dependable.
“She is highly esteemed and legendary in this community,” said Crosby. “No doubt she has created a safer and friendlier environment at her crossing.”
Sasso was presented the honor by surprise, thinking she was attending a training presentation at the Clay County Sheriff’s Office complex in Green Cove Springs.
“I love my job, my families,” she said. “I love my children. They are the best kids in the world.”
Guitarist Suhler returns to Beaches Museum Chapel
The Beaches Museum and Lazzara Family Foundation are bringing back American Texas Blues guitarist Jim Suhler for a performance at 7 p.m. Thursday. The venue is at 381 Beach Blvd.
Suhler has played professionally since the 1980s and performed with artists such as George Thorogood, Johnny Winter, AC/DC and Buddy Whittington.
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 on Thursday. Weather permitting, a barbecue dinner will be served starting at 6 p.m. A $10 donation is suggested.
For more information, visit beachmuseum.org or call (904) 241-5657.