Today, the Arizona Educational Foundation named the 15 candidates under consideration for the 2024 Arizona Teacher of the Year Award.

Desert Financial Credit Union is returning again this year as the presenting sponsory. This is the fourth consecutive year Desert Financial has served as presenting sponsor of this event.

The 15 nominees are:

• Andrea Barallardos (Engineering-CTE/Physics), Douglas High School, Douglas Unified Schools District #27, serving 24 years as a teacher.
• Efrain Casillas (Music), Porfirio H. Gonzales/Desert Oasis, Tolleson Elementary School District, serving 22 years as a teacher.
• Caroline Chung-Wipff (ELA/Social Studies) Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies, Mesa Public Schools, serving 17 years as a teacher.
• Elizabeth Colton (STEM/CTE), Crane Middle School, Crane Elementary School District, serving 17 years as a teacher.
• Clare Contreras (2nd grade General Education), Sahuarita Primary School, Sahuarita Unified School District, serving 15 years as a teacher.
• Marian Johnson (Mathematics/Special Education), Amphitheater High School, Amphitheater School District, serving 12 years as a teacher.
• Kayce Kahl (fifth-grade General Education), Clarendon Elementary, Osborn School District, serving 14 years as a teacher.
• Melody (Mia) Khayduangta (Math), Cesar Chavez High School, Phoenix Union High School District, serving 19 years as a teacher.
• Stephanie Likes (Theatre Arts/Stagecraft), Chandler High School, Chandler Unified School District, serving 15 years as a teacher.
• Kathleen Malkhassian (fourth-grade General Education), Thomas Elementary, Flagstaff Unified School District, serving 12 years as a teacher.
• Jessica Marks (English), Aspire High School, Yavapai Accommodation School District No. 99, serving 15 years as a teacher.
• Jessie McKinley (Computer Science & Robotics, Engineering), Madison Camelview, Madison Elementary School District #38, serving 23 years as a teacher.
• Bridget Montoya (CTE-Education Professions/Math), Flowing Wells High School, Flowing Wells School District, serving 20 years as a teacher.
• Rebecca Oravec (Art) Wrightson Ridge K-8, Sahuarita Unified School District, serving 6 years as a teacher.
• Grazyna Zreda (Chemistry) Tanque Verde High School, Tanque Verde Unified School District, serving 25 years as a teacher.

AEF’s annual Arizona Teacher of the Year program is our state’s highest honor bestowed upon Arizona’s public school teachers. The annual Teacher of the Year program is the premier event of the Arizona Educational Foundation, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to spotlighting and championing the exceptional work of public schools. Desert Financial will serve as the title sponsor of the Arizona Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony.

Now that the 15 candidates have been identified, all will engage in a qualifying round to determine which 10 will be invited to the final interview round. Five teachers ultimately will be named “Ambassadors for Excellence” and finalists for the Arizona Teacher of the Year Award; five will become “semifinalists”; and five will be given an “Honorable Mention.”

The 2024 Arizona Teacher of the Year Awards ceremony will take place on Oct. 14 beginning at 4 p.m with the awards ceremony at 5:30 p.m. at the Madison Center for the Arts in Phoenix, AZ. To sponsor or obtain tickets, 
visit https://www.azedfoundation.org/teachersrock.

The prize package for the Arizona Teacher of the Year includes $15,000 from the Arizona Educational Foundation and travel paid to attend several National Teacher of the Year events including a trip to the White House to meet the U.S. President and a weeklong trip to International Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

They are also considered for an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University. The finalists and semifinalists will receive professional speech and media training to aid them in delivering hundreds of presentations during their year of recognition.