Rayborn, Prater Named Orange Beach Teachers Of The Year

Kristen Rayborn and Rhonda Prater have been named Orange Beach City Schools’ 2023-2024 teachers of the year, Gulf Coast Media reports. Rayborn, a fifth-grade teacher, has worked in Orange Beach classrooms since 2011, citing Orange Beach as not only a family, but also a community. She said her favorite parts of teaching are connecting with her students and building relationships that continue past the end of the school year. She was also a key contributor to the school system’s recent academic achievements, with the fifth-graders earning the system’s second-highest proficiency scores in mathematics during the 2022-2023 school year. Prater, who has been with the school system since 2019, teaches Spanish at the middle and high school. "Her innovative lessons foster a connection between not only us students and her, but also provide opportunities for the students to make new connections among themselves," said one of Prater’s current students.