Meet Jennifer Aderholt—a Golden Apple Teacher of the Year finalist

Jennifer Aderholt [Marion County Public Schools]

A pre-kindergarten teacher from Eighth Street Elementary School is one of six finalists for this year’s Marion County Golden Apple Teacher of the Year Award.

Jennifer Aderholt teaches 4- and 5-year-olds in Voluntary Pre-K. She has been teaching at Eighth Street Elementary for four years and has taught in Marion County Public Schools since 2016. She has 20 years of teaching experience.

Aderholt is a product of MCPS herself. As a child, she attended Madison Street Academy, Howard Middle School and Vanguard High School. She graduated from the University of Central Florida, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

While some instructors might shy away from teaching such an impressionable age group, Aderholt has spent her whole career teaching the youngest grades of early childhood education.

“Our first few weeks of school are a lot of just learning how to be a tiny little human who’s not the center of the universe,” Aderholt said. “They have to learn how to share, how to walk in the line, how to use the bathroom… I teach a lot of independence.”

The Teacher of the Year honor is awarded by the Public Education Foundation of Marion County, and the winner will be announced at the Golden Apple Gala on Feb. 1, 2025, at 7 p.m. at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala.

Marion County’s 2025 Golden Apple Teacher of the Year will win an Acura Integra, with a three-year pre-paid lease from the Jenkins Auto Group. The gala will also recognize the 2025 School Related Employee of the Year and Rookie Teacher of the Year.

For many of Aderholt’s students, this is the first experience they’ve had without their parents by their sides.

“I just think it’s such a fun age. It’s crazy to see them come in for VPK, they usually don’t have any school experience prior to this,” Aderholt said. “When you see them at the end of the year, they’re just totally different people. They grow so much.”

She said that with her students, she sets high expectations—and more often than not, they rise to meet the challenge.

“We get to have a lot of play time and learning through play, which I think is the best way for kids to learn,” she said.

Aderholt’s love for teaching stems from her love for young children.

“I have always also had a passion for children. I babysat my whole entire life before becoming a teacher, and I’ve always just loved children,” she said.

Aderholt expressed her excitement of being recognized as a finalist, saying that she was surprised to be recognized by MCPS at this level.

“I still know I’m doing a great job (without an award),” she said. “I see the success in my students, but it is nice that somebody else sees it, too.”