Five finalists have been announced for the 2012 Harford County Teacher of the Year award.

They are Ronald O. Burke, a music teacher at Patterson Mill High School, Kelly A. Christ, an English and dance teacher at Edgewood High School, Lauren M. Duell, a fifth-grade teacher at William Paca/Old Post Road Elementary School, Kristina J. Marzullo, an English teacher at C. Milton Wright High School, and Christina D. O'Neill, a sixth-grade language arts teacher at Bel Air Middle School.

After all this year's nominations were reviewed and scored, they were narrowed to a group of 10 semi-finalists who were then interviewed one-on-one by a panel of eight judges. Those judges narrowed the 10 semi-finalists to five, one of whom will be named the 2012 Teacher of the Year at the annual banquet, scheduled this year for Thursday, March 29 at the Bayou restaurant in Havre de Grace.

In previous years, the interviews were done after the 10 semi-finalists were announced, according to Teri Kranefeld, manager of communications for Harford County Public Schools.

"The committee wanted to know what they look like on paper and how they interact in person as well," Kranefeld said Tuesday.

Christian Slattery, a vocal music teacher at Hall's Cross Roads Elementary School in Aberdeen, was Harford County's 2011 Teacher of the Year.