Judy Tindal, seventh grade teacher at Greenville Middle School, was recently nominated for the Alabama Teacher of the Year award and presented with a cooler of her favorite ice cream by Blue Bell Ice Cream in honor of her nomination.

Tindal was notified earlier this month that she is a regional finalist for the award, which will be presented early next month. Tindal is one of 16 nominees for the award.

On Tuesday, she received the special presentation from Blue Bell and the entire student body and staff of Greenville Middle School was treated with ice cream.

Along with the cooler of her favorite flavor of Blue Bell ice cream, Dutch Chocolate, Tindal received a letter from Blue Bell President Howard Kruse. Blue Bell executives Charlie Brown and Todd Lucas presented Tindal with the items and congratulated her for the nomination.

Kruse said that teaching is the most important profession and he recognized the entire student body and staff of Greenville Middle School along with Tindal.

"At Blue Bell, we believe there is no finer work you can do in this world than be a teacher," he said. "We wanted to not only recognize Ms. Tindal, but the entire student body and staff at Greenville Middle School. Part of our purpose is to remind all the students how fortunate they are to have Ms. Tindal and their other dedicated teachers with them every day."

According to State Superintendent of Education Ed Richardson, the nominees for the award are to be recognized for their achievements in education. "They represent the thousands of outstanding educators who provide quality educational opportunities for our students," he said.

The nominees will be narrowed down to four; two district teachers from the elementary and secondary levels. Interviews will be held to determine the winner of the Teacher of the Year Award. An alternate will also be chosen during the final stages of the process.

Each of the current 16 district winners have already been recognized as teacher of the year at his or her respective school.

The Alabama Teacher of the Year will spend most of the coming year traveling around the state to speak to various groups and conduct workshops to act as an "ambassador for public education and the teaching profession."

In addition, the winner will automatically be nominated for the National Teacher of the Year award.