The monthly Emporia Showcase with USD 253 Superintendent Dr. Allison Anderson Harder Tuesday featured the district’s trio of nominees for state honors sharing their various journeys to and motivations for their careers in the classroom.
For Master Teacher Nominee and and Riverside Elementary School Adaptive Special Education Teacher Kelly Olson, her motivation is her students and a desire to see them reach their full potential.
For elementary Kansas Teacher of the Year nominee Shelley Sparks, seeing her student’s progress year after year has always been one of her favorite parts of the job.
Secondary education Kansas Teacher of the Year nominee and Emporia Middle School social studies and English language arts teacher Andrew Hawley admits he never foresaw himself entering education as a career path following high school graduation, that is until his mother invited him to step into the classroom for the first time.
Master Teachers will be announced in February, while regional Teacher of the Year finalists will be announced in April. Also highlighted as part of the segment Tuesday were the district’s Horizon Award nominees Daniel Juarez, a music teacher at Logan Avenue Elementary School, and Emporia Middle School 8th grade math teacher Tyler O’Dell.
Juarez tells KVOE he has always had a passion for teaching and it was solidified during his time at Emporia State University from where he graduated back in 2023.
While Juarez has known since middle school he wanted to be a teacher, the path wasn’t always so clear for O’Dell who says he found himself in many roles following graduation from high school. Ultimately, O’Dell would enter the world of education and says he chose math as his focus noting that many individuals often shy away from the subject.
The Kansas Horizon Award is an award given to first-year teachers in Kansas who have demonstrated outstanding teaching skills.
