By Matt Hoover
USD 475 Communications Coordinator
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. – Geary USD 475 has announced that Seitz Elementary kindergarten teacher Christa Grider and Fort Riley Middle School Special Education teacher Michelle Irvine have been named the district’s nominees for the Kansas Teacher of the Year Award Program.
Grider was named the USD 475 Elementary Teacher of the Year, while Irvine claimed USD 475 Secondary Teacher of the Year honors. By being named USD 475’s Kansas Teacher of the Year Award winners, Grider and Irvine both received a $1,000 check on Tuesday from Exchange Bank of Junction City. The duo will also be recognized at an upcoming Board of Education meeting.
The Kansas Teacher of the Year Award Program, sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education, recognizes, and utilizes representatives of excellent teaching in the elementary and secondary classrooms of the state. Its mission is to build and utilize a network of exemplary teachers who are leaders in the improvement of schools, student performance and the teaching profession.
Grider, who is in her sixth year of teaching in USD 475, has taught kindergarten at Seitz Elementary the entire time she has worked in the district. “This is just a huge honor and just validates that I am making and having a positive difference in our students' lives at Seitz Elementary and in the district,” said Grider. Irvine has been in the district and at Fort Riley Middle School for 21 years. She spends her days in the classroom not only teaching, but also truly making a difference in her Special Education students by showing compassion and patience because every day is different. The Kansas State Department of Education will appoint regional selection committees responsible for reviewing the nomination forms and selecting six semifinalists, three elementary teachers and three secondary teachers, for recognition at the regional level. Two regional finalists, one elementary teacher and one secondary teacher, will be chosen from among these six teachers.