Nominees announced for Arizona Teacher of the Year

Six Southern Arizona teachers are among 15 nominees for the 2024 Arizona Teacher of the Year Award given by the Arizona Educational Foundation.

They are:

Andrea Barallardos, engineering, career and technical education and physics, Douglas High School, Douglas Unified Schools District.

Clare Contreras, second grade general education, Sahuarita Primary School, Sahuarita Unified School District.

Marian Johnson, mathematics and special education, Amphitheater High School, Amphitheater Schools.

Bridget Montoya, career and technical educational professions/math, Flowing Wells High School, Flowing Wells School District.

Rebecca Oravec, art, Wrightson Ridge K-18, Sahuarita Unified School District.

Grazyna Zreda, chemistry, Tanque Verde High School, Tanque Verde Unified School District.

Five teachers from the 15 nominees will eventually be named as Ambassadors for Excellence and finalists for the Teacher of the Year Award, which will be announced in a ceremony on Oct. 14. The Teacher of the Year will receive a prize package including $15,000.

Ty White, a chemistry teacher at Willcox High School, won the award in 2023.

New UA program for Hispanic students

The University of Arizona has launched a project aimed at introducing its Hispanic student population to more education and job opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.

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The project, called LISTO (for Leveraging Insights to Strengthen Regional Talent and Opportunities), has the support of $2.97 million from the National Science Foundation.

UA says it was the first four-year public university in Arizona federally recognized as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, earning the designation in 2018. The designation is for higher education schools with undergraduate enrollment that is at least 25% Hispanic. There are now 21 HSIs in Arizona.

Project LISTO, launched Aug. 1 to run through July 2028, “is meant to lay the foundation for a network of support for HSIs in Arizona to serve and support the graduation of Hispanic students and students from other underrepresented backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math,” UA said in a news release.

Legacy award for retired Vail teacher

Retired Vail Unified School District teacher Elizabeth Bradshaw is the 2024 recipient of the Arizona Educational Foundation Carolyn Warner Legacy Award.

Bradshaw was also the 1991 AEF Arizona Teacher of the Year and a 2012 National Teachers Hall of Fame Semifinalist. She retired in 2021 as a gifted education teacher from Vail, and was recognized then as the longest-serving employee in the district’s 120-year history, the foundation said in a news release.

“One of the hallmarks of Bradshaw’s distinguished teaching career was infusing creative learning opportunities into classroom instruction by engaging students in unique activities and projects,” the news release said. She also recreated and revised the Vail district’s Gifted Program.

Bradshaw’s community service included 25 years as coordinator for the Hands Across the Border Program, a student exchange program with the community of Carbo, Mexico.

The Carolyn Warner Legacy Award, a $1,000 annual award, is endowed by the family of its namesake in honor of her legacy as a champion of public education and an advocate for teachers, the news release said. Warner was an Arizona superintendent of public instruction and ran for governor in 1986.