By SDCNN Staff

Two educators of students who attend Mid-City schools have been nominated for 2016-17 Teacher of the Year honors.

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  Julie Szweda teaches fourth- and fifth-grade orchestra and visits multiple schools in the district, including Normal Heights, Balboa, Burbank and Rosa Park elementary schools. She believes “students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds have the most to gain from the study of music,” according to her nomination.

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  Ebonee Weathers is a sixth-grade teacher at Horace Mann Middle School. This past year she “initiated a ‘Water as a Human Right’ unit in her class which students fundraised to bring clean water to students in Africa,” according to her nomination.

Now in its 26th year, the annual “Cox Presents: A Salute to Teachers” program will recognize 43 nominees throughout San Diego County. Teachers who were nominated were selected by their respective school districts. Five educators will be named County Teacher of the Year during the Academy Awards-style event at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10 at Balboa Theatre in Downtown. CNN journalist Kyra Phillips and broadcast veteran Dennis Morgigno will co-host the ceremony.

A full list of nominees can be found online at bit.ly/2coWFue.

The top five teachers are selected based on student achievement, professional development and community involvement, teaching philosophy and personal style, knowledge of educational issues and trends, promotion and development of the teaching profession, accountability, and their ability to serve as ambassadors of education.

The County Teacher of the Year winners will go on to represent the region at the California Teacher of the Year program later this year.

The gala event is presented by San Diego County Credit Union and produced by Cox Communications in cooperation with the San Diego County Office of Education. The show also will air live on Channel 4 San Diego.

“Cox Presents: A Salute to Teachers” has received national recognition, and has earned numerous awards, including more than 20 Emmy Awards and most recently, two Beacon Awards, for Channel 4 San Diego for excellence in programming.

Additional show sponsors include Nothing Bundt Cakes, The Super Dentists, Procopio, Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, Entravision, iHeartMedia and KUSI.

Purchase tickets online at bit.ly/2bGzFmD or by calling the box office at 570-1100 from any San Diego area code.