Pauls Valley, Oklahoma — The first round of news was a surprise to most when it came to naming the teachers of the year at all five schools in Pauls Valley.

That element of surprise should soon go up by several notches as the top teacher for the entire local district will be named.

It was back in mid-November when the site teachers of the year were announced.

They include John Inman at the high school, Melinda Alfred at the junior high, Sandy Samis at Lee Elementary, Dara Ammons at Jackson Elementary and Lynette Ramming at Jefferson Early Learning Center.

From that group the district teacher of the year will be named during a special ceremony on Jan. 21.

Now for a closer look at each site winner as selected by their fellow teachers.

• Lynette Ramming was born and raised in Lindsay by Leon and Leta Kay Adkisson.

She married a young man she had known all of her life, Coy Ramming. They have been married for 26 years. They have two children - Kyndl is 25 and is a senior at the University of Oklahoma and Jakob is 22 and is married to his high school sweetheart Kelly. They are expecting Lynette and Coy’s first grandbaby in April 2013.

Ramming attended the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha and graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Deaf Education.

She now works with children with developmental delays in kindergarten and pre-school at JELC.

• Dara Ammons grew up living in the country between Wynnewood and Pauls Valley but attended Sulphur Public Schools. She graduated from Sulphur High School in 1996 and from East Central University in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education.

She was immediately employed in Pauls Valley as a 2nd grade teacher, where she’s taught for seven years before moving to 1st grade. She has taught for 12 years total at Jackson.

She has been married for 12 1/2 years to Matt Ammons. He is a manager for the Walmart D.C. They have two children, Dawson who is 8 and in Mrs. West’s 3rd grade class and Gracie who is 5 and in Mrs. Akers’ kindergarten class.

• Sandy Samis has lived in the Wynnewood area since 2005, when she relocated here from Alabama to marry her husband, Gary Samis. She has one son, Wyatt Pierce, who is a senior at Fayette High School, in Fayette, AL. Sandy also has two stepsons.

Samis graduated high school from Carbon Hill High School in Carbon Hill, Ala. After high school she attended Walker College in Jasper, Ala., to receive her Associate of Science degree.

She stayed out of school for a few years and eventually attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., receiving her Bachelor of Science in Education with special emphasis in Special Education.

Upon graduation, Sandy began teaching at Winfield Elementary School in her chosen field for 11 years.

When she moved to Wynnewood, she taught at Wynnewood Middle School from 2005-2012 and began teaching at Lee Elementary this past August.

• Melinda Alfred grew up in Pauls Valley and graduated from PVHS in 1983. She attended East Central University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English.

She then began working at Paoli Schools as an English teacher in 1989. The next year she started a Masters of Library and Information Studies program at the University of Oklahoma and began also working as the school librarian for Paoli, where she stayed for 14 years.

Alfred was then hired by Pauls Valley Schools as a full-time school librarian, teaching mornings at Pauls Valley Junior High and afternoons at Jackson Elementary, where she has been for the past 10 years.

Alfred is married to Steve Alfred and has one daughter, Abigail, who is 13 and attends Pauls Valley JH.

• John Inman graduated from Tishomingo High School in 1996. He attended Oklahoma Christian University for two years where he ran track. He transferred to East Central University after his sophomore year of college and graduated there in 2001 with a degree in education.

His first teaching job was at Lindsay where he taught Algebra I and II for 10 years. He was also an assistant football coach and head track coach during that time.

In 2011, he took the job as the head football coach and assistant track coach at Pauls Valley. He currently teaches geometry at the high school.

He is married to Brooke Inman, who teaches 2nd grade at Jackson Elementary. He also has two children; Tessa, who is 6 and attends JELC, and Marlee who is 3.