HENRICO, Va., Nov. 7, 2025 — Two Henrico County Public Schools educators have earned the 2025 REB Award for Teaching Excellence and will receive $15,000 grants to continue their love of learning and pursue cutting-edge study in their fields. Together, the Community Foundation and REB Foundation award the grants annually to recognize and support Richmond-area teachers who have distinguished themselves through inspiring classroom instruction. Across the region, 15 award-recipients and 13 finalists were selected from educators nominated by students, parents and colleagues. The HCPS teachers were surprised with the good news Thursday at their schools by division leaders, administrators, colleagues and students.
2025 HCPS recipients, REB Award for Teaching Excellence:
Amanda Drinnon, Advanced Career Education Center at Hermitage (English teacher): $15,000 to embark on a six-country African safari to explore diverse landscapes, cultures and wildlife, informing the teaching of global literature and helping foster students’ critical thinking.
Ellen Jewell, Brookland Middle School (social studies teacher): $15,000 to travel to London and Quebec to research British and Canadian perspectives on the American Revolution and investigate how these historical narratives continue to shape the United States’ relationships with the U.K. and Canada.
"I'm just so happy that I get to do all of these incredible things and bring them back to my school," Drinnon said. "I'm so proud of the ACE Center at Hermitage, and I want to show off our school and all of the accolades that we get here.
"The ACE Center at Hermitage has a diverse population of students, and I want to make them feel included in our programs. I want to experience various cultures, and we're going to come back here and embrace the cultures we have here at our school. I'm so honored to be able to do that and to be able to share them with my colleagues. We have our vet science program, and I'm going to be able to talk about an African safari with them. I'm just so excited."
The school also had a grant recipient in 2023. ACE Center teacher Andrew Givens traveled to New Zealand to study a youth entrepreneurship program.
Jewell plans to bring what she discovers in the U.K and Canada "back to my students, because so often, history is only taught from the perspective of the winner."
Jewell serves as a teacher fellow at Brookland. HCPS teacher fellows are experienced instructors who spend part of their work time serving as coaches and mentors to other teachers. She is in her 30th year of teaching.
In addition to the two award recipients, five other HCPS teachers were finalists.
2025 HCPS finalists, REB Award for Teaching Excellence:
Nirali Jantrania, Deep Run High School: $1,000
Sarahann Wicker, Holman Middle School: $1,000
Lindsey Hurlburt, Douglas S. Freeman High School: $1,000
Kristen Knarr Roberts, Tuckahoe Elementary School: $1,000
Mary Dunaway, George Moody Middle School: $1,000
The selection process includes a nomination, an interview and submission of a project proposal. Proposals include an approximation of the amount needed to fund the candidate’s proposed project.
For more information about the awards, go to https://tinyurl.com/REBAwardsPage.
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Photo captions:
Amanda Drinnon, English teacher at the Advanced Career Education Center at Hermitage, reacts to the news that she is a 2025 recipient of the REB Award for Teaching Excellence. HCPS leaders surprised Drinnon with the news Thursday at the school.
Ellen Jewell, social studies teacher and teacher fellow at Brookland Middle School, reacts to the news that she is a 2025 recipient of the REB Award for Teaching Excellence. Jewell was surprised with the news Thursday at the school.
Ellen Jewell, social studies teacher and teacher fellow at Brookland Middle School, is congratulated Thursday by Ryan Young, the Henrico School Board’s Fairfield District representative, and Amy Cashwell, HCPS superintendent. Jewell is a 2025 recipient of the REB Award for Teaching Excellence.