CCSD Career Pathways Teacher Named Georgia New Teacher of the Year!

A Cherokee County School District teacher has been named the state's top new career education teacher!

Etowah High School aerospace science instructor U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. (Ret.) Ciarra Malto today was named the winner of the Georgia New Teacher of the Year award.  It's presented by the Georgia Association for Career and Technical Educators to one teacher from all Career Pathway programs.  Congratulations to TSgt. Malto and thank you to our School Board for its continued investment in career education!

One teacher, who has shown outstanding success in her or his first three to five years in education, is honored for each career education program area each year.  Those subject area winners then advance to be considered for the overall honor, which is presented to only one teacher annually.  Earlier this year, TSgt. Malto was named the subject area winner for Junior ROTC programs, making her eligible for the overall award.

Joining Etowah HS in 2021, TSgt. Malto retired from her military career as the aircraft section chief for bomber maintenance at Edwards Air Force Base in California.  In addition to teaching classes, she is the head coach of the Etowah JROTC riflery team, currently ranked first in the Area 10 region, and oversees various other JROTC activities.  TSgt. Malto also co-hosts a summer leadership camp at Georgia Military College attended by JROTC students from programs across the southeast United States.

Earlier this spring, TSgt. Malto was named a 2025 Outstanding Instructor Award winner by the U.S. Air Force.  It’s an honor achieved by only the top 30% of 2,000 Air Force and Space Force JROTC instructors worldwide.  She advanced in the recognition program to also be named the Region 3 Sub-Region 1 - Enlisted award winner.

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