Who’s the best teacher in Salem? (And for our purposes, we define Salem as anything in the Salem zip code).

Last year’s winners were Christine Robertson (West Salem Elementary kindergarten), Brian Crockett (Glenvar Middle School life science) and Amy Carpenter (G.W. Carver Elementary first grade).

In 2010, the top vote-getters were Chastity Harden (Glenvar High), Sherri Shupe (Andrew Lewis) and Ray Moore (Salem High).

In 2009, the top three, as judged by you, were Glynis Deegan (alternative education), Mark Ingerson (Salem High School, ninth-grade history) and Sheri Shupe (Andrew Lewis Middle School, seventh-grade science.)

So what will it be this year, in this and many other categories?

You tell us!

Here’s your chance to honor your favorite teacher, your favorite bus driver, your favorite school staff member — your favorite in lots of commerical and non-commercial categories.

Voting is now open in our fourth annual Best of Salem reader survey.

You can find the voting form right here (or over in the right-hand rail.)

The voting is open through midnight on Sunday, March 11; we’ll publish the results in our April 20 print edition.

A few new wrinkles: To make it easier to vote, we’ve gone ahead and listed the top six finishers last year in the business categories — although, as always, you can cast a write-in vote if your favorite isn’t already listed.

If you’ve got someone or some thing you think should be recognized, feel free to start a campaign to drum up votes.

Is there someone or something who should be recognized who doesn’t fit into a category? We always have our “best thing not on this list.”

Happy voting!

Here’s who won in 2011 and 2010 and 2009.

Got friends in other places? We also have Best Of contests underway in Botetourt County, Southwest Roanoke County and the New River Valley.