Three Tucson educators are up for the Arizona Educational Foundation's Teacher of the Year award.
They will compete for the title along with two others from Arizona.
The finalists are:
• Brandi Dignum of Richardson Elementary School in the Flowing Wells Unified School District. She teaches music to students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
• Josh Tabor of Canyon Del Oro High in the Amphitheater Public Schools. He teaches math to students in grades nine through 12.
• Andy Townsend of Elvira Elementary in the Sunnyside Unified School District. He is a fifth-grade teacher.
• Pam Barrier of Boulder Creek High in the Deer Valley Unified School District. She is a 12th-grade economics and free-enterprise teacher.
People are also reading…
• Amanda McAdams of Apollo High in the Glendale Union High School District. She is a 10th- grade English teacher and a student-council adviser.
The winner will be announced at a luncheon on Nov. 18. The winner will receive a $20,000 cash award, a laptop from Intel Corp., a chance to compete for the title of National Teacher of the Year, a trip to space camp in Huntsville, Ala., a meeting with President Obama, a full scholarship to Argosy University, professional speech training and other awards and recognition.
The remaining four will serve as spokespeople for their profession, advocating for excellence in the classroom by making presentations statewide to education, civic, government and professional organizations. They will also receive a $5,000 cash award, a laptop from Intel, professional speech training and a scholarship from Argosy for 50 percent of the cost of tuition toward a master's or a doctorate in education.
Five semifinalists also will be honored at the luncheon, includ-ing a Tucsonan.
They are Mario Ruiz of Flowing Well Junior High in the Flowing Wells Unified School District, Tina Chiu of Mitchell Elementary in the Isaac School District, Scott Fray of West Sedona School in the Sedona-Oak Creek Unified District, Amy Bolling Metcalf of Cactus Shadows High in the Cave Creek Unified School District and Toni Ann Schadler of Coatimundi Middle School in the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District.
They each receive $1,000 and a chance to ride Dec. 31 in the Fiesta Bowl Parade on the Wells Fargo Stagecoach.
The Arizona Educational Foundation is a nonprofit that supports and celebrates excellence in K-12 public school education.
On StarNet: Find education-related resources, special reports and the Student of the Week feature at azstarnet.com/news/local/education
Contact reporter Alexis Huicochea at ahuicochea@azstarnet.com or 573-4175.
