The agency has announced this year’s finalists, all Flagstaff Unified School District teachers, for both awards

This award recognizes K-12 teachers in the county and names two ambassadors of excellence in each category, as well as a teacher of the year and a new teacher of the year. This is her 10th Teacher of the Year Award, her 5th Rookie of the Year Award and her 2nd Lifetime Achievement Award.

A total of 27 teachers were nominated this year. Of those, 19 were named best teachers and 7 were named new teachers.

This year’s teacher candidates included Josh Adams from Tse’Yaato’ High School. Lauren Bradshaw and Victoria Thomas at Puente de Hojo. Matt Clark of Flagstaff Junior Academy. Jessica Donnelly at Kinsey Elementary School. Paul Gallagher of Northland Preparatory Academy. Keri Gugisberg of Williams Elementary School. Jennifer Haremza from Montessori school. Elaine Layman, Emma Ricciardi and Michelle Weidinger from DeMiguel Elementary. Kathleen Markassian at Thomas Elementary School. Allison Mitkowski of Williams High School. Coconino High School Jesse O’Keeffe. Roman Sanchez from Heritage Elementary and Mandy Wilson from Flagstaff Christian School.

Candidates for new teachers are Ariana Ayup, Angelica Quesada and Fernanda Robles of Puente de Hojo. Tessa Cruz at Kinsey Elementary School. Megan Mears at Marshall Elementary School.

The three finalists in both categories will win cash prizes and nominations for the Arizona Teacher of the Year Award. The Teacher of the Year award winner will also be offered a one-year car lease from his Toyota in Flagstaff Findlay.

The three 2023 finalist teachers are Lisa Bernard, Emily Fisher and Kate Haynes. Although they had never met before being nominated for the award, some of the same students had passed through some of the classrooms over the years.

Barnard has been a teacher for 11 years and currently teaches 6th grade science at Sinagua Middle School. After working in a boys and girls club and watching her brother start a college for teaching, she decided to switch from geology to teaching.

“I love how quickly my students get it and click and get excited,” she said. “They have a passion for learning and come to school excited to learn. I love their passion and pass on that lifelong love.”

She said her students were thrilled to hear about the nominations, especially about their classroom visits to the film. I was.

“My students said they felt like they were dressed like movie stars,” Bernard said.

Haynes is a preschool special education teacher at Knoles Elementary School and says she always wanted to be a teacher. After completing her teaching degree in London, she moved to Flagstaff where she was doing an exchange program at Northern Arizona University and began working in the school district.

“I wanted to specialize more in early intervention and early childhood education because that would be the foundation for the rest of the school year,” she said.

She said her favorite part of teaching is helping students enjoy their first experience at school.

Fisher has been teaching for 13 years and currently teaches at Marshall Elementary School. She began teaching after being inspired by her mother, who was her teacher in her preschool years, and by other “great teachers” at her school.

“I have always loved learning and wanted to pass on my passion and excitement to learning and growing new things to others,” she said.

She also teaches 4th graders in her current 5th grade class and said one of her favorite things is their wry sense of humor.

“It’s a really special feeling when we can learn and then dumb down together as a community and understand the team we’ve built,” she said. [You] Get to know them and watch them all grow. ”

Nominees for 2023 New Teachers are Kellen Blundell, Krystal Busas and Josie Teagerdin. All three are in their second year of teaching.

Teagardin, who teaches sixth-grade social studies at Mt. Elden Middle School, said that teaching was “always a passion” for her, citing her parents (both teachers themselves) and classroom teachers as examples of role models. I’m here.

“One of the most important things I’ve learned is working with a team at school. Working together and sharing ideas,” she says of her education so far. “…we learn from each other.”

She hopes that the students will leave the classroom knowing they are “accepted and loved”.

“I just want them to know that they are valued, that they can contribute to the world and society, that they can be role models for others and build better friendships and relationships,” she said. Told.

After graduating from NAU’s education program, Busath started working in the district. She teaches kindergarten at Kinsey Elementary School and likewise has an interest in teaching “for a very long time.”

“I have really good teachers who inspire me,” she said.

She also had different hopes for her students.

“One of the most important things I want them to know is that they feel like real people, not just another number on a page, and how to work together in a group, how to support each other, how to help each other. They can succeed at anything, so ask for help when you need it,” she said.

Blundell teaches Spanish at Flagstaff High School and has had a variety of teaching experiences, including Costa Rica, France, Spain and the Murdoch Center in Flagstaff.

I first learned Spanish in a high school class, then took a gap year before teaching English in college and studying Spanish in El Salvador.

“When you find a subject or interest that grabs you, it’s like, ‘Wow, this is completely changing the way I think about things,'” he said. I think I was interested … It just opened up my world and I continued my study abroad after that.”

He said he wants his students to deepen their knowledge of Spanish and leave the classroom with an interest in learning.

“I love learning. I hope I never stop. I want my students to have the same passion. They are willing to put themselves in situations that may be out of the zone and eventually use those skills to succeed with other aspects of their lives,” he said.

The teacher finalists thanked the organizers, especially program coordinator Michelle Despain. The ceremony is also sponsored by several local organizations.

For more information, coconino.az.gov/1863/Celebrate.