FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Elaine Davis Named ACPS Teacher of the Year
Davis will represent ACPS in the Maryland Teacher of the Year award program.
CUMBERLAND, Md. — March 9, 2026 — Elaine Davis, an eighth-grade science teacher at Mount Savage School, was named the 2026 Allegany County Public Schools Teacher of the Year on Monday. Davis will advance to represent ACPS in the Maryland Teacher of the Year competition.
The announcement was made before an audience that included all eighth-grade students, Allegany County Board of Education members, Mount Savage School and ACPS administrators, and Allegany County Education Association leadership.
Davis has taught for ACPS since 2018, beginning her career at Westmar Middle School before transferring to Mount Savage School in 2021. She holds a master’s degree in teaching from Frostburg State University and a master’s degree in sustainable development and conservation biology from the University of Maryland.
Davis has earned recognition at both the state and national level for her environmental education work. She received the 2015 Women Leaders in STEM Award from Allegany College of Maryland, was named the 2016 Maryland Project WILD Facilitator of the Year by the National Project WILD office and was awarded the MAEOE Robert Finton Outdoor Educator of the Year Award in 2017 for leadership and innovation in environmental and outdoor education.
“Prior to entering the classroom, I worked outdoors in environmental education where I saw firsthand how powerfully students respond to learning about the natural world,” Davis said. “Environmental connections are a perfect fit to support learning with increased rigor.”
Davis leads her school’s Green School program and has developed a co-curricular class of seventh- and eighth-graders focused on sustainability initiatives including recycling, energy conservation and the development of native habitats on the school campus. She has also forged community partnerships with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Allegany College of Maryland to provide students with hands-on environmental learning experiences.
A certified facilitator for Project WILD, Project WET and Project Learning Tree, Davis has provided professional development to more than 100 educators statewide. She was selected to serve on the Maryland State Department of Education’s Content Review Committee for the MISA science assessment and presented her spider biodiversity unit at a statewide conference in 2020.
“Science is really about a growth mindset,” Davis said. “The skillset learned in science class is critical to not only students’ academic success and career readiness, but also their future as informed citizens ready to participate in our democratic society.”
Five finalists advanced to the county recognition round: Davis, Kara Breedlove, Kathy Brown, Laurie Ferguson and Ian Saville. A volunteer committee of community members and educators conducted interviews before selecting Davis.
Each school in the district honored one teacher as its building-level Teacher of the Year before finalists were selected for the county round. Additional information about the ACPS Teacher of the Year program, including past finalists, is available at acpsmd.org.