Raleigh, N.C. — An Orange County teacher was named the AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year on Tuesday night.

Cindi Rigsbee, a sixth- and seventh-grade reading resource teacher at Gravelly Hill Middle School, was announced as the winner at a formal banquet in Raleigh.

"Ms. Rigsbee is a wonderful example of how education can make a difference in a person's life. I am delighted that she is North Carolina's Teacher of the Year. Ms. Rigsbee is a classroom leader, and she also is an educational leader who makes a difference with everyone in her school," State Superintendent June Atkinson said.

Rigsbee has been a North Carolina public school teacher since the 1979-80 school year and has taught in five different public school systems.

She completed her undergraduate studies at North Carolina State University, and received a bachelor's degree in English education and a master of education in K-12 literacy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rigsbee succeeds James Bell from Chowan Middle School.

This is the first year AT&T has sponsored the state's recognition program, the most prestigious honor for teachers.

The selection process for the 2008 Teacher of the Year began in February 2007, and nominees worked their way through school-level and regional processes.

Information about the Teacher of the Year program is available at the state Department of Public Instruction Web site.