SVVSD honors its Teachers of the Year

Niwot Elementary's Jessica Easley says she has an amazing job. Her passion for teaching and dedication to her students earned her Teacher of the Year for her school, an award she's won multiple times in her career.

"It is a tremendous honor to have been chosen for this award," Easley wrote in an email after being honored at the Tribute to Teachers celebration on Friday night. "I am very grateful. I have taught for 26 years, most of them in Niwot. I love my job and my students. I am excited to move to second grade next year and spend more time at our wonderful elementary school with a terrific staff and great group of kiddos. The community is so loving and supportive, and the students work so hard. We should all be so lucky."

Laura Walters was honored as Teacher of the Year for Niwot High for her work teaching choir and musical theater. "I am so humbled to have been nominated and incredibly honored," Walters wrote in an email. "I am extremely grateful to all my amazing students and to our choir community at Niwot. This has been a whirlwind of a year, completely strange and different than any typical year, especially while teaching choir. Singing online, virtual choirs, socially distant singing with masks - it is all very strange and definitely not what our singers think of when they sign up for choir, but we have done some incredible things this year, and I couldn't be more proud."

Another local music teacher was also honored as Teacher of the Year for her school. Stephanie Texera teaches band at Sunset Middle School, another subject that was especially challenging to teach virtually. Her principal Anthony Barela said she experienced the most change of any teacher in the building.

"I'm incredibly honored and humbled to receive Sunset's Teacher of the Year award," Texera wrote in an email. "I'm grateful to be a part of the amazing Sunset community. Go Spartans!"

The St. Vrain Valley Education Foundation also named a Teacher of the Year for the entire district, Neil Shupe. He is the director of the Advanced Manufacturing Academy at the Career Development Center. Shupe has also taught a variety of math, science, construction and technology classes during his career.