Teacher of the Year Finalists

Congratulations to our four finalists for the 2021 District Teacher of the Year! The four finalists will be invited to complete the official 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year application and then be interviewed by a selection committee. Each candidate will receive an award of $500. The candidate who is selected as the District’s Teacher of the Year will receive a $2,000 award at a special recognition event in August.

This year's finalists are:

	John Arthur teaches 6th grade at Meadowlark Elementary, and he misses his students like CRAZY! He is a National Board Certified teacher who also serves on the Advisory Committee on Equity of Educational Services for Students for the Utah State Board of Education. This summer, Mr. Arthur will be teaching in the Graduate School of Education at Westminster College.
	Alison Bulson is a teacher of physics at West High School. She is passionate about teaching physics in a manner that makes the subject accessible and interesting to all students. She has recently been Invited to participate in summer teacher programs at CERN (the LHC in Geneva, Switzerland) and LIGO (CalTech’s detector in Washington State).
	Ashlee Ekins has lived her teaching life at North Star Elementary School. She started teaching 2nd graders in 2007 and has now taught 4th graders for five years. She has been a learner at the University of Utah, where she got her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education, and at The University of Phoenix, where she earned her Master of Arts in Education/Curriculum and Instruction.
	Natosha Washington is a professional choreographer, director, and avid educator who is passionate about inclusive learning. She currently teaches dance at West High School. In her first year at West, she expanded the program by two classes, reaching more than 60 additional students. Previously, she taught dance at Northwest Middle School, from 2012 to 2018, and developed the school’s Celebration of Dance. In this program, 400+ students were given the opportunity to celebrate their school and individual cultures through dance.