Two second-year educators have been selected to represent the Gardner Edgerton School District in the state-sponsored Horizon Award Program. The Kansas Horizon Award program identifies and recognizes representatives of excellent teaching in the elementary and secondary classrooms of the state. Jennifer Miller, a first-grade teacher at Nike Elementary School, and Stephanie Ruley, an English Language Arts teacher at Gardner Edgerton High School, will represent the elementary and secondary levels, respectively.
The mission of the Kansas Horizon Award program is to recognize exemplary first-year teachers who perform in a way that distinguishes them as outstanding. The program is a regional competition, and the regions correspond to the state’s four U.S. congressional districts.
The Kansas State Department of Education will appoint regional selection committees responsible for reviewing the nomination forms and selecting four elementary classroom teachers and four secondary classroom teachers per region for a total of 32 teachers.
As part of the process, the two finalists will complete a set of essays related to their current practice, solicit letters of reference from administrators, students, parents, and peers, and participate in an extensive interview process.
The educators on the following page should be incredibly proud, congratulated, and celebrated!