Magothy River Middle STEM Educator Joe Bigsby Named AACPS Teacher Of The Year

At the beginning of the process to select the 2026 Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) Teacher of the Year, 88 educators were nominated for the award. Later, 18 semifinalists were announced. Then, the field was narrowed to seven finalists. That’s when it started to become a reality for Magothy River Middle School (MRMS) STEM teacher Joe Bigsby that he might actually be selected for the honor.

Bigsby, a Calvert County native, was named AACPS’ Teacher of the Year on April 24 at the 40th annual Excellence in Education Awards held at the Live! Event Center at Arundel Mills.

“You have to prepare a speech ahead of (the event), so I was a little bit prepared, not thinking it was going to be me, but like, this could happen,” Bigsby said days after receiving the award. He shared that he’s been “riding the rollercoaster ever since.”

The former accountant has been an educator for 13 years, eight of them at MRMS. In addition to teaching STEM classes, he has started a robotics team at the school and facilitates an afterschool game group called the strategy club.

“This is not about one person,” Bigsby told the 700-person crowd at the awards ceremony moments after his name was announced, according to an AACPS statement. “It’s about all of Anne Arundel County and what we bring, the excellence that we bring. I am reminded of that every single day as I talk to other teachers and I realize that it’s not a solo thing. I did not win tonight. We won tonight. The kids won tonight. Anne Arundel County won tonight because that’s what we do. We do things excellent.”

Reflecting on the sentiments he shared, Bigsby stated that getting to thank all of the teachers he’s worked with in the past was the highlight of his speech.

“One of the things I’ve always found of value is building your teacher’s tool belt, and that means things that you learn from other teachers, that you’re able to take away from professional developments, or just conversations or co-planning, and bring them back to your classroom,” he said. “And when you do that for – I’ve been teaching for 13 years – you begin to take the best parts of all the teachers you’ve encountered. And so, I made sure to say thank you to all the teachers out there that have contributed to my success in the classroom and beyond.”

In the days since being named Teacher of the Year, Bigsby has received an outpouring of encouragement from colleagues, which he takes as an affirmation of his efforts to always try to improve.

MRMS Principal Lindsay Abruzzo shared, “Mr. Bigsby gives everything he has to all his students, from the ones that need him the most, to the ones that pop in and out of his classes through their middle school years. Mr. Bigsby is the type of teacher every parent wants in their children’s lives. He cares and wants them to be successful. I knew when we nominated him that he was truly deserving of this honor. I am so excited and cannot wait to see what he does with this honor. He represents what Magothy is all about.”

Bigsby’s parents, sister, aunt and wife, a special education teacher at Annapolis High School, were present at the Excellence in Education Awards to witness him receive the great honor.

With his wife and two young boys, ages 3 and 5, Bigsby resides in Cape St. Claire, within his school district. He enjoys seeing students around the neighborhood, and shared that building relationships and a sense of belonging at the school and in the community is of great importance to him.

The second MRMS educator to win the award in its 40-year history, Bigsby will go on to represent AACPS in the Maryland Teacher of the Year competition.