Humboldt Education Foundation Wishes to Honor Teacher of the Year Nominees, Recognize Winners and Show Appreciation to Sponsors.
Similar to so many other events planned and changed or canceled for 2020, the Humboldt Education Foundation (HEF) decided it was imperative to still recognize the hard work of the Humboldt Unified School District (HUSD) teachers. Despite Covid restrictions, it was obvious to the HEF board that the 2019-2020 Teacher of the Year (TOY) nominees had to be celebrated. Jim Clemens, HEF President said, “The Teacher of the Year Event is so important to HUSD for many reasons; it gives students the ability to express their appreciation for teachers, and the event raises funds for HEF projects throughout the school year.”
In past years at the TOY event, students read letters of nomination to proud teachers. The event always highlights the standards set by the District and reflects many accomplishments. Generous sponsors are recognized as well as HEF Board members. The nomination letters have common themes of teachers who give their all and make learning fun. It is a great opportunity for the community to honor educators and students. Usually these presentations and recognitions are to a room of 200 plus teachers, students, parents, and community members. As a result of event sponsorship, HEF is able to award one $500 Carm Staker scholarship to a graduating BMHS Senior and has been able to award quarterly teacher classroom grants. In 2019 HEF awarded over $6,000 in teacher grants.
In January of this year, students were asked to submit their nomination for Teacher of the Year. Here are the 2019-2020 TOY nominees and the students who nominated them.
Coyote Springs Elementary – Adrienne Houston, student Kailey McCabe
Granville Elementary – Denise St. Clair, student Michael Simon
Humboldt Elementary – Patricia Etcheverry, student Emma Munsinger
Lake Valley Elementary – Tammy Davis, student Sean Smith
Mountain Valley Elementary – Michele Mraz, student Aniyah Klein
Liberty Traditional Elementary – Julie Renfroe, students Addison and Brooklyn Renfroe
Liberty Traditional Middle – Chris Kawabata, student Nathan Sawyer
Bradshaw Mountain Middle – Carissa Johnson, student Elise Meeks
Glassford Hill Middle – Jared Friedrich, student Megan Sullivan
Bradshaw Mountain High – Amy Van Winkle, student Morgan Engelby and Tiffany Church, student Dakota Brown
The show must go on and thanks to a partnership with Signals AZ, that is exactly what happened. Students and teachers gathered at their respective schools and recorded their essay on camera with the nominated teacher by their side. Even though the event wasn’t live, there were still tears of joy abound. To view this video recognition we invite you to visit the HEF website (humboldteducationfoundation.com) for the 2020 HEF Teacher of the Year Videos or on Facebook @Humboldt Education Foundation, make sure you have plenty of tissues!
TOY and everything else HEF accomplished during the year couldn’t be possible without the continued support of community sponsors. Sponsors for the 2020 TOY were committed in January and continued to support HEF and the event despite the change to a virtual format. Patrick Dennis, Sales Manager for Galpin Ford Inc., stated, “Participating in the community is so important to Galpin Ford, especially investing in our future workforce.”
Jim Clemens, HEF Chairperson said, “Many of the sponsors mentioned below doubled their contribution from last year, for the 2020 Teacher of the Year Event.” Because of this, $22,000 is earmarked for classroom grants in the 2020-21 school year, and two Carm Staker scholarships will be awarded in 2021. Sponsors are as followed:
Emerald – Massie Family Foundation, Northern Arizona Suns, Universal Homes, and Yavapai Regional Medical Center
Gold – Dorn Homes, Prescott Web Design
Silver – Galpin Ford Inc., Fain Signature Group, Vince Moser – Farmers Insurance Agent, Frontier Financial of Arizona, Prescott Valley Chiropractic, MI Windows, and Doors
Bronze – Autoworks, Carm Staker, Hunt for Town Council, Findlay Automotive, Foothills Bank, Jim Clemens, Prescott Valley Ace Hardware, Prescott Valley Early Bird Lions, Prescott Valley Economic Development, Prescott Valley United Methodist Church, and State Farm Insurance
Copper – My Home Group, Angie Sumner, OneAZ Credit Union, Raskins Jeweler, and Rafter Eleven
HEF is so appreciative of the willingness to support teachers and students. Teacher grants will be needed this year more than ever. HEF will be contacting sponsors soon to plan the biggest Teacher of the Year Recognition for 2021!
In addition to the TOY event, HEF’s primary focus is on Hungry Kids. Even during the pandemic, weekend meals were distributed by volunteers to students. Other Foundation projects include, The Carm Staker Student Scholarship Award, classroom grants for special projects, and for the HUSD Student Orchestra Project. The Humboldt Education Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and an approved State of Arizona Qualifying Charitable Organization for Arizona Tax Credit program.
