TAMPA — When Hillsborough County’s Teacher of the Year accepted that award Thursday night, he talked about everyone but himself — which, he said, explained everything.

“I consider us to be the sum of what we’ve been exposed to and what we’ve experienced,” Henry Bryson, a history teacher at Leto High School, said. “I’m so grateful that I had the luck to be born into such a kind and loving family, work side by side with passionate educators at Leto and serve such kind and hard-working students.”

Bryson, who teaches in the Advanced International Certificate of Education — or AICE — program, received the award at the Education Foundation’s Excellence in Education Awards, which took place Thursday night at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts.

Bryson, 41, has taught for the district since 2012. His students have a perfect pass rate in the AICE Global Perspectives course, according to the Hillsborough Education Foundation, which administers the award.

“I think our main goals as educators are to expose our students to ideas and experiences that make them think critically about the world and their place in it, help them figure out what gives them joy and help them figure out how to love others and, most importantly, love themselves,” he said.

Delia Thurman, a Leto senior and Bryson’s student escort for the evening, recalled how, in her first class with him as a sophomore, Bryson’s enthusiasm transformed her from a habitual back-of-the-class student to one who sits up front.

Bryson shows his students techniques to excel on exams and helps with college essays, she said. But just as important are the acts of kindness he urges them toward: preparing breakfast carts for school custodians, making Valentine’s Day cards for cafeteria workers and writing in gratitude journals for themselves.

“He showed us how to be better people,” she said.

Two other district employees received high honors. Antonyia McCray, a student success coach at Freedom High School, was named the Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year. McCray, 31, has worked for the district since 2017.

“It’s not just about helping students meet academic milestones,” McCray said Thursday night. “It’s about creating an environment where they feel valued, heard and seen.”

And Bonnie Walters, a secretary at Tampa Palms Elementary, won Instructional Support Employee of the Year. Walters, 56, was hired by the district in 1997.

Walters’ student escort, third grader Ethan Bernhardt, said the award shows the world how special “Ms. Bonnie” is, but it’s not news to him — his mom teaches at Tampa Palms, and he’s known her his whole life.

“Even after all these years,” he said, “I still get excited to see her every day.”

Contact Jack Evans at jevans@tampabay.com. Follow @JackHEvans.