Every day, teachers, administrators and staff members at local schools make a difference in the lives of children. To the students whose lives they touch, these educators are role models, and a contest from the N.C. Education Lottery is seeking to recognize these everyday heroes.

Thus far, a total of 42 Beaufort County teachers and school personnel have been nominated for the N.C. School Heroes contest, ranging from teachers, coaches and teacher assistants to administrators and support personnel.

“Think back to your time in school and picture in your mind the person who made a difference in your life, someone whose kindness you’ve never forgotten or whose advice still rings true to you today,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the N.C. Education Lottery. ”That’s a School Hero.”

Winners of the contest will be determined by voting by the public, which is open at www.ncschoolheroes.com through March 15. The top 10 winners from across the state will each receive $10,000 for themselves, $10,000 for their school and $1,000 for the person who nominated them. Nominations are still being accepted at the site as well.

Nominations from Beaufort County include:

• Bath Elementary — Mandy Hedgepeth and Toni Taylor
• Beaufort County Early College High School — Kayla Shelton
• Beaufort County Schools Maintenance Department — Robbie Mason
• Chocowinity Middle School — Ann Sloan
• Chocowinity Primary — Shea Carrow, Stephanie Fore, Heather Hall, Emily Houston, Brian Hunter, Sheri Matthews, Mandy Pichardo, Jennifer Sneed, Katelyn Singleton, Emily Smith, Alicia Vosburgh
• Eastern Elementary — Beth Hodges, Mary Martin Moore
• John Cotten Tayloe — Melissa McGahey, Krista Norris
• John Small Elementary — Holly Patrick
• Northeast Elementary — Brian Campbell
• Northside High School — Jennifer Woolard
• P.S. Jones Middle School — Elizabeth Dyer, Grant Jenkins, Jamari Pruitt, Khali Roberson, Hannah Querry, David Welham
• Southside High School — Brian Bumgardner, Buffy Everette, Rosalyn Grimes, Jan Hill, James Mauser Jr., Anna Ramsay
• S.W. Snowden Elementary — Channay Moore
• Washington High School — Tommy Ford and William Gore
• Washington Montessori Public Charter School — Christa Farmer, Amanda Holton, Bonnie Miller, Cathy Moore

Now in its second year, the N.C. School Heroes contest garnered 6,750 nominations and 2 million votes last year. The 2019 class of School Heroes included a principal, two teachers, a teacher assistant and substitute bus driver, a school custodian, a high school band director, a high school basketball coach, a school crossing guard and a school social worker.