As another school year comes to a close, we wanted to take a minute to thank all of the hard-working teachers in DeKalb County, who do such important jobs educating and caring for our children.
DeKalb County Online especially wants to honor one teacher as our “DeKalb County Teacher of the Year.” Our honoree this year is Cate Cardella, First Grade Teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in DeKalb. In addition to a certificate to commemorate this distinction, Ms. Cardella will receive a $50 gift certificate for Fatty’s Pub & Grille.
We are sure that there are many deserving teachers throughout DeKalb County, but after we show you all that Ms. Cardella does for her students, her school, and her district you will understand why she is a worthy recipient of this award.
As with many great teachers, education is a family profession for Cate Cardella. She comes from a long line of teachers, including both of her parents, and always knew that she wanted to follow in their footsteps. Her father, Mike Maher, taught High School Mechanics at MidValley Vocational Center (now Fox Valley Career Center) for over 34 years. Her mother, Ruth, was also a teacher, and helped to open Tyler School in DeKalb in 1969.
After living in Florida for 16 years and teaching there, Cardella moved back to DeKalb in 2011. She started out substitute teaching in District 428 and picked up a long-term assignment as elementary art teacher, where she rotated through four schools. One those schools was her Alma-mater, Tyler Elementary. Six days before school started in 2012, she was hired at Tyler to teach Kindergarten. Since 2017, she has been a 1st-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School.
Cardella said she chooses to teach in DeKalb because as a resident of the city she believes that strength in community and schools is priceless. She enjoys connecting with families outside of the school day, such as seeing them at community events and around town.
“Teachers in a community are incredibly important because they are helping to raise our future,” said Cardella. “District 428 has incredibly dedicated professionals who genuinely care for their students on top of providing them a quality education.”
Cate Cardella works tirelessly on behalf of her students and fellow educators (as you can see in “the rest of the story“); therefore, it is our great pleasure to recognize her as our 2018-19 DeKalb County Teacher of the Year.
Michael Embrey Stephen Haberkorn
Publisher Editor
For more details, and “the rest of her story,” click here: Cate Cardella: Profile of a Dedicated DeKalb Teacher
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32 Comments


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Congratulations Cate!!