The Oklahoma Teacher of the Year Program is coordinated through the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Ryan Walters. The program is in conjunction with the National Teacher of the Year Program sponsored by the Council of Chief State School Officers.
The 2024 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year will be announced in March 2024 and will travel Oklahoma as an ambassador for teachers during the 2024-2025 school year.
If you have any questions regarding the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year process; please contact:
Teacher of the Year Request to Speak |
2024 Teacher of the Year Application |
Tulsa Public School’s Traci Manuel is an English Language Arts Teacher at Booker T. Washington High School. Manuel’s fierceness, dedication, and unique teaching methods, inside and outside the classroom, have always caused her to be a motivator and champion for all children. Her unconventional path to teaching shows her that the difference begins in the classroom. This teaching path started for her as a full-time graduate student, where she began studying the effects of the achievement gap on African American students at Ann Arbor Public School District. The outcome of this study propelled her to dive deeper into the data to see if there were similar disparaging academic parallels with her hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, the home of the infamous Tulsa Race Massacre. After further research, she was astounded by the alarming connections. Motivated to make a difference, she eventually moved back home to Tulsa, where she started first as a long-term substitute and moved through the ranks as a teacher assistant, a parent facilitator, and finally, a certified classroom teacher in Tulsa Public Schools. Manuel shows students in her 13 years of teaching experience that life has two roads, and she took the one less traveled, and it’s made all the difference.
All Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 classroom teachers in state-accredited schools is eligible for nomination. It is important that every teacher is given the opportunity to participate in this recognition process. No minimum years of teaching experience are required to be qualified for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year.
Nominees should be exceptionally skillful and dedicated classroom teachers who are planning to continue in an active teaching status. According to the director of the National Teacher of the Year Program, a classroom teacher is one who teaches a group of students every day within the confines of the classroom and does not have administrative duties. Nominees should communicate effectively and demonstrate creative and imaginative teaching on a day-to-day basis. The nominee should have the ability to inspire the value of learning in students of all backgrounds and abilities and assure academic success. Nominations should be made without regard to age, sex, race, or religion.
At the local district level, the Teacher of the Year program is coordinated through the district superintendent. It is the responsibility of the district superintendent to make sure that every teacher is given the opportunity to participate in the recognition process. It is important to emphasize that the search is not for “the best teacher,” but for one who exemplifies the finest in the profession.
The local school district determines the local selection process and announces the local Teacher of the Year.
The regional selection committee will evaluate the applications that have been submitted by local Teachers of the Year and select twelve finalists to continue on to the State Selection Committee.
The state selection committee will follow procedures identified below for each of the twelve finalists to select the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year.
The Oklahoma Teacher of the Year serves as Oklahoma Ambassador of Teaching, representing Oklahoma in the national competition by sharing knowledge and resources with fellow educators around the state and encouraging education as a profession.
The $5,000 scholarship is awarded to a high school senior in the current Oklahoma Teacher of the Year’s district.
The Oklahoma State Fair Board established the Edward C. Joullian III $5,000 Scholarship to be awarded to a high school senior in the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year’s school district. The scholarship winner is announced at the Oklahoma State Fair. This scholarship was established to encourage students to continue their education, recognize the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year’s school district, and celebrate the contributions of Mr. Joullian to the lives of Oklahoma’s young people.
Year | Name |
---|---|
2022 | Rebecka Peterson, Union Public Schools |
2021 | Jessica Eschbach, Norman Public Schools |
2020 | Jena Nelson, Deer Creek Public Schools |
2019 | Becky Oglesby, Yukon Public Schools |
2018 | Donna Gradel, Broken Arrow |
2017 | Jon Hazel, Durant |
2016 | Shawn Sheehan, Norman |
2015 | Jason Scott Proctor, Tahlequah |
2014 | Peter Markes, Edmond |
2013 | Elaine Hutchison, Fairview |
2012 | Kristin Shelby, Hollis |
2011 | Elizabeth Smith, Byng |
2010 | Brian Grimm, Tulsa |
2009 | Heather Sparks, Oklahoma City |
2008 | Stephanie Canada, Shawnee |
2007 | Linda-Hasler Reid, Muskogee |
2006 | Robyn Hilger, Oklahoma City |
2005 | Susan Illgen, Grove |
2004 | Cindy Ball, Muskogee |
2003 | James Kerr, Union |
2002 | Mike Bynum, Sand Springs |
2001 | Talita DeNegri, Oklahoma City |
2000 | Mitsuye Conover, Bartlesville |
1999 | Lynn Peacher, Jenks |
1998 | Kay Long, Broken Arrow |
1997 | George Abshire, Jenks |
1996 | Stephen Smallwood, Broken Bow |
1995 | Linda Kay Webb, Broken Arrow |
1994 | Mary Jane Bassett, Woodward |
1993 | Betsy Mabry, Enid |
1992 | Rhonda Harryman, Edmond |
1991 | Marilyn King, Stillwater |
1990 | Eugene Earsom, Moore |
1989 | Mike Adkins, Moore |
1988 | Dale Long, Oologah-Talala |
1987 | Geraldine Burns, Fairview |
1986 | Jane Kennedy, Yukon |
1985 | Barbara Smith, Miami |
1984 | Gwen Pasby, Elk City |
1983 | Nancy O’Donnell, Perry |
1982 | Kathlyn Reynolds, Putnam City |
1981 | Alice Gregg, Okay |
1980 | Sherry Morgan, Sand Springs |
1979 | Frances Herron, Altus |
1978 | Pat Kellogg Roller, Ada |
1977 | June Richardson, Duncan |
1976 | Wilda Walker, Enid |
1975 | Maralene Wesner, Idabel |
1974 | Valerie Carolina, Wewoka |
1973 | Frankie Minton, Lindsay |
1972 | Vernice Ware, Bartlesville |
1971 | Albert Clark, Enid |
1970 | Ruby Browning, Grove |
1969 | Trudy McFarland, Stillwater |
1968 | Edward Hennessee, Lawton |
1967 | Evelyn Findley Williamson, Oklahoma City |
1966 | Helen Cosgrove, Norman |
1965 | Sam Evans, Oklahoma College for Women |
1964 | Lawana Trout, Sand Springs |
1963 | Bona Gordey, Tulsa |
1962 | Flossie Beckett, Oklahoma City |
1961 | James Jenkins, Oklahoma City |
1960 | Mary Gillentine, Ron School |
1959 | Edna Donley, Alva |
1958 | Helen White, Duncan |
1957 | A.B. Herring, Prague |
1956 | Mary Lawrence, Claremore |
1955 | Ethel Briggs, Barnsdall |