Brittany Rigdon, a teacher at the Cecil County School of Technology and this year’s Cecil County Public Schools’ Teacher of the Year, has been named one of seven finalists for Maryland’s Teacher of the Year award.
In her 16th year as an educator, Rigdon currently teaches Landscaping and Horticulture Production to juniors and seniors at CCST, where she has been for eight years.
Students from all five public high schools in the county can choose to take courses at CCST starting their junior year and graduate the following year with a certification. According to CCST staff, the program allows students to get a higher salary right out of high school, while getting more hands-on real world experience so they can make more informed decisions about their future.
Rigdon points out that Maryland’s State Department of Education blueprint aims to ensure that all students are college and career ready by the end of their 10th grade year.
“It doesn’t have to be geared at kids that are only looking for a hands on skill,” said Rigdon. “I’ve had students come in that are AP [Advanced Placement] students and are going to study to be landscape architects. And then I have students that don’t want to pursue higher education, but want to have a skill to get a job and a salary. With those certifications that we teach here, they are going to get hired on at businesses in Cecil County and surrounding areas. They are going to have credentials that help them get higher wages at 18 or 19 years old. And hopefully it’ll lead them into figuring out the path they want.”