Liza Hastings has been named Middle School Principal of the year for Maryland.
Hastings is principal of Bennett Middle School.
The Salisbury Daily Times reports she was startled when she heard the news by a district school official who broke into the morning announcements.
She is a graduate of the Wicomico County school system and began teaching sixth grade history at Glen Avenue Elementary school in 1997.
Hastings eventually went on to be an assistant dean and history teacher at Wicomico High School.