Two educators from Gulf Shores City Schools have landed spots among the 16 finalists for 2025-2026 Alabama Teacher of the Year, the Alabama State Department of Education announced.
Angela Kirby, a sixth-grade math teacher at Gulf Shores Middle School, and Kristen Madsen, who teaches culinary arts at Gulf Shores High School, each earned recognition as District Teachers of the Year on their way to the state round. The honor means Gulf Shores claimed both the elementary and secondary District I slots — a sweep Superintendent Matt Akin called proof of the district’s culture of innovation, collaboration and high expectations.
A District Spanning South Alabama
District I reaches across much of southern Alabama, taking in Baldwin, Butler, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia and parts of Mobile County. Gulf Shores is one of 16 school systems in the district, alongside systems in Andalusia, Brewton, Enterprise, Opp, Elba and Orange Beach, among others. The state’s eight districts together produced 156 individual schools represented in the program.
The 16 finalists emerged from 155 educators recommended by superintendents, principals and colleagues through the state’s application process.
The Teachers React
Kirby said she was honored, humbled and grateful for colleagues she described as innovative and devoted to students. Madsen said the recognition took time to feel real and called it rewarding to see her work with students acknowledged so meaningfully.
A quirk of classification worked in Kirby’s favor: while Gulf Shores treats sixth grade as middle school, the state counts it as elementary, placing her math classroom in the District I elementary category. It is the first year either teacher has reached this stage of the program.