ATLANTA — State School Superintendent Richard Woods today announced the finalists for 2018 Georgia Teacher of the Year.

One is Laura Gerlach, a fifth-grade teacher at Furlow Charter School in Americus.

The 10 finalists were chosen from a pool of 150 applicants; all had been previously selected as their school district’s Teacher of the Year. all of whom had been selected as their school district’s Teacher of the Year. The applications were read by a panel of judges that included teachers, past Georgia Teacher of the Year winners and finalists, administrators, community leaders and others. The finalists were chosen based on the strength of their essay responses.