BY RILEY WILSON
Three Eudora teachers were honored at the Kansas Region 2 Teacher of the Year Awards Banquet this year.
Each year, Kansas school districts can nominate one elementary and one secondary teacher for the Kansas Teacher of the Year Award, which recognizes teaching excellence. Eudora teachers Mitch Tegtmeier, Theresa Wilcox and Tiffany Parker were all honored. Parker was nominated by her former school district as Tonganoxie’s Elementary Teacher of the Year.
“We have a lot of incredible teachers here at Eudora. It’s a great school. It’s a great school district, so to be nominated and then selected as our district representative, that was really humbling for me,” said Tegtmeier, an eighth-grade teacher at Eudora Middle School.
This is Tegtmeier’s 12th year teaching and 10th year at Eudora. Previously, he taught agriculture education and woodshop but now teaches physical education and health.
Teaching hands-on subjects allows him to interact with his students in a positive manner, Tegtmeier said. This is important, he said, because it allows him to build relationships with his students.
“I think it’s important that you build relationships with the kids and that they know that you’re doing this because you enjoy doing what you do and that you care about them, and you care about the content that you teach,” Tegtmeier said.
Tegtmeier was one of 38 teachers nominated for Region 2 and then went on to be selected as one of three semifinalists.
Wilcox, a fourth-grade teacher at Eudora Elementary, said she was surprised at first to be nominated but felt validated for the career she chose.
After 26 years of teaching elementary school, Wilcox said she has learned even the smallest things can make the biggest impact on students.
“You never know what a kid is going to remember or how you are affecting a kid,” Wilcox said. “You may not even realize it, that what you do is important to them even if you don’t think they’re getting it or you don’t think they like you or you don’t think that you’ve made a difference, that in some way you have.”
Throughout the years, Wilcox said she took her teaching inspiration from other teachers.
Wilcox advises new teachers to find a peer they admire and incorporate what they do into their own teaching style.
“Nobody knows it all. Learn what you can from everybody else,” Wilcox said.
Parker, Eudora’s third teacher honored at the awards banquet, previously taught kindergarten for 11 years before joining the Eudora School District.
“I’m learning every day new tricks and different things to put in my little bag of ideas,” Parker said.
Like Tegtmeier, Parker said the most important thing new teachers should remember is the value of building relationships. This means being flexible with students, time and curriculum to meet the kids where they are at.
“For teachers, just don’t be afraid to step outside the box,” Parker said. “That’s where your biggest accomplishments are made.”
Reach reporter Riley Wilson at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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