How fun is my job?
Sometimes, you can't top it.
When education reporter Christine Hawes told me there was going to be a pep rally for EdVantage Educator of the Year, Palm View Elementary school teacher Dameon Headings, I wasn't having high hopes of a great photo. I was thinking echoing, loud, dark gymnasium with teeth-rattling cheers of students.
Instead, I got adorable kids seated quietly, dancing to pop music and all excited about surprising their teacher.
The teachers were just as happy, dancing in a conga line and getting into the spirit of celebration.
"He's coming!" yelled a teacher on lookout duty.
After the room hushed to silence, principal Frank Pistella opened the door for Dameon Headings, who timidly leaned into the darkened room as the light from outside lit his face which gradually transitioned into a joyful smile.
Headings was led to the stage where he was positioned in an easy chair as children sang and danced around him.
How fun is my job?
Sometimes, it's the best.
--Tiffany Tompkins-Condie
Grant Jefferies, a native of Palmetto and chief photographer at the Bradenton Herald, has been capturing moments in the lives of Manatee County residents for over 25 years. Images from the streets of Cuba and Haiti to the clay fields of the Little League World Series and beyond have been captured through the lenses of Jefferies' cameras. Jefferies can be found on his sailboat when his feet are not on land.
Tiffany Tompkins-Condie is in her 13th year as a photojournalist at the Bradenton Herald. Through the years she has covered crimes and carnivals; feasts and floods. Her postings will vary from events in Manatee County's back yard to the work of photojournalists covering the stories of our times from around the world. 
Paul Videla has been a staff photographer with the Bradenton Herald since 2002, when he made the move from Detroit, Mich. When he's not working,
he enjoys hunting for unique LPs at the area's plethora of thrift stores and continually works to improve his baking chops(as the records spin and his dog waits for handouts).
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