Annually, local school districts put their best and brightest forward in the contest to decide Utah's Teacher of the Year, who acts as an ambassador on educational issues. Utah's top educator, to be announced at a Friday banquet, will be nominated for the national Teacher of the Year award.
The contest, which requires a lengthy essay and letter-of-recommendation process, is coordinated through the State Office of Education. Not all of Utah's 40 districts participate. Today, the Deseret News profiles nominees from districts in Salt Lake, Utah, Davis and Tooele counties.
This year's nominees for Utah Teacher of the Year from throughout the state are:
Alpine: Sarah Catherine Woolsey, Lone Peak High
Cache: Heather Sue Mons, Nibley Elementary
Carbon: Connie M. Hamilton, Castle Heights
Elementary
Davis: Patty Norman, Bluff Ridge Elementary
Grand: Troy Peterson, Grand County High
Granite: Brenda Hatfield, Oakridge Elementary
Iron: Mona Woolsey, Cedar City North Elementary
Jordan: Judith Weber, Butler Middle
Millard: Sherry Paxton, Millard High
Murray: Pamela Y. Aoyagi, Longview Elementary
Nebo: Mary Anne Hillier, Spanish Fork High
North Sanpete: Roy Ellefsen, North Sanpete High
Ogden: William K. Roberts, Ogden High
Provo: Jill Taylor, Joaquin Elementary
Salt Lake City: Tim Bailey, Washington Elementary
San Juan: Robin Vurand, Bluff Elementary
Uintah: Linda Crozier, W. Russell Todd Elementary
Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (Ogden): Glenda Collins.
Tooele: Janet M. Bird, Northlake Elementary
Wasatch: Barbara Hansen, J.R. Smith Elementary
Washington: Linda Palmer, Sunset Elementary
Weber: Gary Turner, Wahlquist Junior High
Source: State Office of Education