RALEIGH, (SGRToday.com) - Pactolus School Principal Steve Lassiter is being rewarded for excellence. The Pitt County education leader was named Wells Fargo Principal of the Year. He will receive $3,000 for personal use and $3,000 for his school.

He succeeds Mooresville Middle School Principal Carrie Tulbert.

He also will receive a scholarship for a 10-day educational tour of Switzerland thanks to Education First Tours, a privately held company that offers a range of education programs from language training, educational travel and academic degrees to cultural exchanges.

Other prized include a custom-made NC Principal of the Year signet ring and pendent.

Lassiter has been with Pitt County Schools System his entire career, according to a Department of Public Instruction announcement.

He taught fifth grade at W.H. Robinson Elementary in 2004-05, sixth grade at E.B. Aycock Middle from 2005-08, and served as assistant principal at Pactolus Elementary from 2010-12. He was named principal of Edna Andrews Elementary in 2012 before returning to Pactolus as its principal in 2013.

The other regional finalists were:

    Region II: Robin Hamilton, Parsley Elementary (New Hanover County Schools);
    Region III: Tonya Williams, Sherwood Githens Middle (Durham Public Schools);
    Region IV: Kim Robertson, Elizabeth Cashwell Elementary (Cumberland County Schools);
    Region V: Christopher Poston, Pittsboro Elementary (Chatham County Schools);
    Region VI: Adam Auerbach, Wolf Meadow Elementary (Cabarrus County Schools);
    Region VII: Shane Mace, East Burke Middle (Burke County Schools); and
    Region VIII: Scott Rhodes, East Henderson High (Henderson County Schools).