MOULTRIE , Ga. — The Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement (GLISI) has announced Jessica Hewett, a second-grade teacher at Sunset Elementary School, as the third-place winner of its annual Hidden Heroes campaign.

Leslie Hazle Bussey, the CEO and executive director at GLISI, recognized Hewett with a $250 award Dec. 6 at Sunset Elementary.

“I’m honored. Anytime that your colleagues and your principal nominate you for something it’s just special,” Hewett said after receiving the award.

She explained that feedback and reassurance are also important to her. She likes to know that she’s efficiently reaching her students.

Principal Josh Purvis said Hewett was the first person that came to his mind after learning about the Hidden Heroes campaign.

“She is a servant and she does not love the spotlight. She works tremendously hard behind the scenes,” Purvis said in an interview Dec. 6. “She’s great with parents and colleagues. She has two new staff members on her team this year and they fit in like they’re veterans as a result of her leadership. She does a lot for our students in our climate.”

Hewett’s nomination statement names her as a “model classroom teacher” who’s “always patient and compassionate.”

“Since the pandemic, she has taught online classes to 2nd grade students while teaching other students face-to-face. She is now back to teaching face-to-face all day. Her students know they are loved and feel comfortable making mistakes as they learn in her classroom. She is always patient and compassionate with her students, staying after school several days a week to tutor her students,” the nomination reads.

It continues, “She continually uses high-impact teaching strategies as she challenges her students to reach for new academic heights. In addition to all of this, she does a great job as the 2nd grade team leader. She provides invaluable guidance and servant leadership for her team. Her insight and discernment make a positive impact on our Leadership Team.”

Started in the fall of 2020, the Hidden Heroes campaign intended to further the organization’s mission of uplifting school leaders, transforming mindsets and action, creating vibrant cultures of Innovation and building excellent and equitable schools, Bussey said.

“What we saw during the pandemic, what educators were doing to support children and families was nothing less than heroic,” she explained. “We realized that communities had no idea what teachers, principals, food service workers, custodians and bus drivers were doing in order to hold communities together through that difficult time. What we wanted to do was just spotlight it.”

A record-setting public nomination period included 60 nominees ranging from teachers, principals, and administrators to security guards, nutrition staff, and coaches from rural, urban, and suburban school systems across all regions of Georgia.

Hewett received a total of 3,053 votes reinforcing her spot in the top three winners.

Henrietta George, an athletic director at Druid Hills High School in Atlanta, was named the overall first-place winner and received a $750 cash award. Dr. Timeka Cline, a principal at Nickajack Elementary School in Smyrna, Ga., placed second and received a $500 award.

All the cash prizes were sponsored by Georgia Power for its second consecutive year.

“This year’s vote total nearly doubled that of 2021, which itself was more than a two-fold increase from the inaugural Hidden Heroes campaign,” according to a press release.

“What it’s become is a public messaging campaign to really help lift up the tidal wave of appreciation. While other people are asking to give money, what we want people to give is thanks and appreciation,” Bussey said.

She hopes that the campaign will continue to grow and the Georgia public will continue to recognize and appreciate the “people that wake up every day and pour into young people.”