SANDY — Alta High School teacher Matt Leininger has been selected as the 2015 Canyons District Teacher of the Year.
Leininger, who also coaches robotics, swimming and tennis, was honored last month during a ceremony hosted by the Canyons Board of Education.
Leininger said his interest in teaching was piqued when he volunteered to mentor a Chinese student during his time at Brigham Young University.
“My mom was a teacher so I thought, ‘Hey, I am going to look into teaching,’” he said. “They had me work for a semester with a little boy who only spoke Chinese … and I was able to teach him English, how to answer the phone, just basic things like that. That’s when I knew (teaching was) what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Leininger received a $1,000 cash award from the Canyons Education Foundation and a prize package full of items from local merchants.
The Board of Education also recognized two Teacher of the Year finalists — Bethany Smith, a teacher at Sandy Elementary, and Kattie Dewald, who teaches at Midvale Middle School. Smith and Dewald received gifts and a $500 check from the Canyons Education Foundation.
As Canyons’ top teacher, Leininger will represent the district at the Utah Teacher of the Year contest.