“I touch the future,” once said Christa McAuliffe, the American teacher and Space Shuttle Challenger crew member.  “I teach.”

To honor the stellar teachers who encourage students to seek their dreams and reach for the stars, the Canyons Board of Education and Administration encourage members of the community to submit nominations for the 2020 Canyons Teacher of the Year Award.

Each year, all Canyons schools and programs select one Teacher of the Year through a competitive selection process. The winning educator receives a crystal award from the Canyons Board of Education and gifts from local business partners.  

From that field of school-based honorees, the CSD Administration, after reviewing student achievement data and evaluating instructional practices, choses one overall CSD Teacher of the Year. That teacher, who receives additional prizes from the Canyons Education Foundation and major donors, also becomes Canyons’ nominee for Utah’s Teacher of the Year honors. 

Students, parents, patrons, PTAs, business partners, and Canyons employees are all invited to nominate an educator during the nomination window, which ends Monday, Feb. 3. Click here for the nomination form.  All teachers who have completed at least one year in the classroom are eligible for consideration. She or he also must showcase outstanding teaching practices, professionalism, and involvement in the school community. 

Nomination forms are submitted to the school where the teacher is employed. Each school will have a Teacher of the Year Selection Panel, including the principal, a school employee and a School Community Council member, to consider the nominations from the community and employees.  

From March 30-April 3, schools across the District will announce their respective Teachers of the Year with school celebrations.

The District’s top teacher will be announced at a celebration on Tuesday, April 21.  All school-based Teachers of the Year will be feted at a 7 p.m. catered reception at Midvale Middle, 7852 S. Pioneer. At 7:30 p.m., the Board of Education will host a ceremony in the middle school’s auditorium to announce the overall 2020 Canyons District Teacher of the Year.

The public is invited to the reception and top teacher announcement. 

The 2019 Teacher of the Year was Jessica Beus, a third-grade teacher at Midvale Elementary. 

Videos of all previous winners, who also are given the Apex Award for Teacher of the Year, can be accessed at the Canyons District YouTube channel.