AUGUSTA — Five teachers, including one from Turner and another from Poland, have been named semifinalists in the 2013 Maine Teacher of the Year selection process, the Maine Department of Education announced Tuesday.

The semifinalists are Richard Lent, Leavitt Area High School, Turner, and Shannon Shanning of the Whittier Middle School in Poland.

The three other semifinalists are Katherine Bousquet of the Central School in South Berwick; Elizabeth Marass of Sanford High School; and Beth Switzer of the Coastal Ridge Elementary School in York.

A panel of teachers, principals and business community members made the selections last week.

The five are among eight teachers who were nominated in February and honored in a State House ceremony last week that was attended by Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen, First Lady Ann LePage, State Board of Education Chairman Jim Banks, Sen. Brian Langley, R-Ellsworth and program sponsors.

The five semifinalists will undergo an intensive selection process that includes a school visit, a professional portfolio review and an oral presentation. The pool will be narrowed to three. Those three will sit for an interview before the 2013 Maine Teacher of the Year is selected.

The winner will be announced at his or her school’s surprise assembly in September.