Vail educator up for Teacher of the Year

Kevin Kehl, a bioscience/biology teacher at Andrada Polytechnic High School, was named an Ambassador for Excellence by the Arizona Educational Foundation, making him eligible for the coveted title, which comes with a $15,000 cash award, the opportunity to meet the president of the United States, more than $7,000 in equipment from SMART Technologies and a chance to compete for National Teacher of the Year, among other prizes.

The other four ambassadors are Margie Looney of the Willcox Unified School District, John-David Bowman of the Mesa Public School District, Kaci Heins from a Flagstaff charter school, and Jeffrey Taylor of the Flagstaff Unified School District.

Five others, including Angela Guerra of the Sahuarita School District and Jack Murphy of Flowing Wells School District, were named semifinalists. Guerra is a fifth-grade teacher at Sahuarita Intermediate School and Murphy is fifth-grade teacher at Centennial Elementary School.

The winner of the state honor will be announced Nov. 20. The AEF Arizona Teacher of the Year and four Ambassadors for Excellence will serve as spokespersons for their profession, advocating for excellence in the classroom by making presentations statewide to education, civic, government and professional organizations. Each Ambassador will receive a $5,000 cash award, professional speech training and a scholarship from Argosy University for 50 percent of the cost of tuition toward a master’s or doctorate in education and more.

The five semi-finalists will receive a $1,000 cash award and a scholarship from Argosy University for 25 percent of the cost of tuition toward an advanced degree.

The Foundation promotes and awards the exceptional efforts made in Arizona public schools.