The Okaloosa County School District named Katrina Brownsburger (Brominguez) as its 2025 Teacher of the Year during Monday’s school board meeting, recognizing her work expanding debate education across Northwest Florida.
- Brownsburger, who teaches 10th grade English and leads the debate program at Fort Walton Beach High School, was selected from among three finalists. The other finalists were Brittney Stein, who teaches 8th grade pre-algebra at Pryor Middle School, and Shalytha Payne-Blevins, an English teacher at Crestview High School.
“Kids have never ever needed us more,” Superintendent Marcus Chambers said during the announcement. “What you guys do, our teachers, our support professionals, our administrators, what you do makes a difference.”
Brownsburger’s journey in education began as a student teacher at Niceville High School under debate coach Pauline Buis. She later established her first debate team at Bruner Middle School before following her father to Fort Walton Beach High School, where she taught alongside him for three years before his retirement.
As one of 10 state-selected debate ambassadors, Brownsburger developed curriculum and oversees debate tournaments from the western Panhandle to Tallahassee. Her students consistently achieve high rankings in competitions.
- “It’s such a case of ‘it takes a village’ and we have a pretty awesome village here,” Brownsburger said. She highlighted her students’ involvement in community events, including speaking at Chamber of Commerce breakfasts and school board meetings.
Board member Parker Destin emphasized the importance of Brownsburger’s work in debate education. “The degradation that I have seen in the political discourse that we have in our present nation, how it gridlocks and how we don’t seem to be able to have civil discourse at times – you’re pushing back through your efforts and enhancing and passing along those debate skills that we need,” he said.
The district typically announces the winner at its annual Teacher of the Year banquet hosted by the Okaloosa County Education Association. However, last week’s winter weather forced officials to reschedule the banquet to Feb. 13, after the state’s deadline for district nominations.
The district also recognized other educators during the meeting:
- Heather Phillips of Plew Elementary as Elementary Assistant Principal of the Year
- Jeff Strumeyer of Meigs Middle School as Secondary Assistant Principal of the Year
- Dr. Donna Kelley of Northwood Elementary as Elementary Principal of the Year
- Victoria Hayden of Crestview High School as Secondary Principal of the Year
Brownsburger will represent Okaloosa County in the state Teacher of the Year competition this spring in Tallahassee.
