By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

Three Alabaster City Schools teachers and a principal were honored by their peers and local universities for their contributions to the city’s education system during a Feb. 17 Alabaster School Board meeting.

Thompson High School career technical and marketing teacher Katie Mantel was named the ACS secondary Teacher of the Year and Meadow View Elementary School kindergarten teacher Kathy Matthews was named the school system’s elementary Teacher of the Year.

Mantel and Matthews will now move on to compete for the Alabama Teacher of the Year award in their respective categories.

Matthews has been teaching kindergarten at MVES for nine years, and holds a finance degree from UAB and a master’s in education from the University of Montevallo.

Mantel has been teaching at THS for seven years, and holds a marketing degree from the University of Alabama and a master’s degree in counseling and psychology from the University of West Alabama.

Jacksonville State University named Thompson Intermediate School fifth-grade teacher Shay Traywick to its Teacher Hall of Fame, which “recognizes and honors outstanding classroom teachers throughout the state of Alabama.”

Traywick has taught for four years, graduated from UAB and the University of Montevallo and holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from UAB.

Creek View Elementary School Principal Brent Byars also earned the University of Montevallo’s Instructional Leadership Award for “distinguishing (himself) in (his) field,” according to the university.

Byars has been principal at CVES since 2012, and holds bachelor’s, master’s and specialist degrees from the University of Montevallo.

The four award recipients received plaques from the Alabaster School Board during its Feb. 17 meeting.