Certiport recognizes Florida teacher as Educator of the Year

SALT LAKE CITY, June 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Certiport, a Pearson VUE business and the leading provider of performance-based IT certification exams that accelerate academic and career opportunities, today announced that Kim Kayser, career and technical education (CTE) instructor at Woodlawn Beach Middle School in Florida, has been named Certiport's Educator of the Year. The award was announced at Certiport's 2025 CERTIFIED Educator Conference, where educators gather to explore the full promise and potential of business and technology certification in the classroom. 

"We need more educators like Kim," said Dr. Gary Gates, Managing Director, Pearson VUE. "With such rapid changes happening in the workforce, students need to prepare earlier and earlier for career success. Her commitment to teaching real-world skills to her middle school students is inspiring. She reminds all of us at Pearson that you're never too young to learn career skills."  

Kim has been teaching as well as learning technology with her students for fourteen years in Santa Rosa County, Florida. For the last ten of those years, she's been a career and technical educator, helping Woodlawn Beach Middle School students earn valuable, resume-building certifications in Microsoft Office, Entrepreneurship and Small Business, and Professional Communications. She loves being at the forefront of technology and always aims to keep classroom instruction engaging and relevant to prepare students for career and college readiness.  

Known for her caring demeanor and unique hands-on approach, Kim adeptly helps her students develop the business skills they need to succeed in the workforce. She is beloved by her students, regularly called a favorite. "Miss Kayser loves the material she teaches," said Milo Atwell, a former Woodlawn Beach Middle School student. "She loves all her students. Everyone is very positive in her class because she makes the material so fun."  

Her respect and reputation extend beyond her classroom, and she often serves as an expert for the district as well. "Kim is an amazing motivator and educator. Watching her engage with her students, you can feel how much she cares. She's also an amazing peer and colleague. She's someone who I look up to and someone I call regularly for teacher feedback," said Charlin Knight, CTE Director of Santa Rosa County District Schools. "She's one of our CTE leaders, and I am incredibly proud of her accomplishments and the contributions she's making at Woodlawn Beach."   

About Certiport
Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, is the leading provider of certification exam development, delivery and program management services delivered through an expansive network of over 13,000 Certiport Authorized Testing Centers worldwide. Certiport manages a sophisticated portfolio of leading certification programs including: the official Microsoft Office Specialist certification program, the Microsoft Certified Fundamentals certification program, the Microsoft Certified Educator program, the Adobe^® Certified Professional certification program, the Autodesk Certified User certification program, the Intuit certification program, the Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) certification program, the Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate certification program, the App Development with Swift certification program, the Project Management Institute Project Management Ready certification program, the Unity Certified User certification program, the Communication Skills for Business certification program, the IC3 Digital Literacy certification, and the Entrepreneurship and Small Business certification program. Certiport reliably delivers over three million tests each year throughout the secondary, post-secondary, workforce, and corporate technology markets in 148 countries and 29 languages worldwide. For more information visit www.certiport.com or follow Certiport on X at www.twitter.com/certiport. 

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SOURCE Pearson Vue