BATON ROUGE — The state Department of Education on Friday named semifinalists and finalists for a number of honors within the state's public school systems.

There are 24 semifinalists in the teacher and principal categories. Honors for teacher and principal of the year honor educators who make extraordinary gains with students and serve as models of excellence in their communities. Finalists will be named in May.

Teacher of the Year seminalists from the Baton Rouge area include:
-Jennifer Woodard, Central Intermediate School, Central Community
-Huijing Yuan, Foreign Language Academic Immersion Magnet, East Baton Rouge Parish
-Bridget Zeringue, Iberville Math, Science, and Arts (MSA) Academy East, Iberville Parish
-Alisha Butler, Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired, Special School District
-Misleydis Almeida de la Cruz, Brusly Middle School, West Baton Rouge Parish
-Corey Gilfoil, Bains Lower Elementary School, West Feliciana Parish
-Haley Odom, Northwestern Middle School, Zachary Community

Principal of the Year semifinalists from the region are:
-Shelley Strother, Galvez Middle School, Ascension Parish
-Melanie Bellamy, Labadieville Elementary School, Assumption Parish
-Wesley Howard, Denham Springs High School, Livingston Parish
-Lauren Rentrop, Patterson Junior High School, St. Mary Parish
-Sharess Baptiste, Kentwood High Magnet School, Tangipahoa Parish
-Jacquelyn Bristow, Bains Lower Elementary School, West Feliciana Parish

Finalists for Louisiana Early Childhood Teacher include those in Type III Centers, CCAP Certified Family Child Care Sites, Head Start Centers, and Early Head Start Centers.

Three of the five finalists are from the Baton Rouge area:
-Tangi Ambeau Flowers, Little Learner's Preparatory Academy, Ascension Parish
-Vanessa Baltazar, LSU Early Childhood Education Laboratory Preschool, East Baton Rouge Parish
-Jillian Graves, St. Louis Academy Head Start, St. James Parish

And of five Childhood Leader finalists, from the region is:
-Niki Mills, St. Francisville United Methodist Early Learning Center, West Feliciana Parish

None of the three new teacher of the year finalists for elementary schools is from the Baton Rouge area.

For middle schools:
-Jared Smith, Gonzales Middle School, Ascension Parish

And for high schools:
-Grace Reynerson, Live Oak High School, Livingston Parish

Winners will be announced in July.