Northwest Heights Elementary School teacher Kasey Bennett was named the Durant School District’s Teacher of the Year and she was surprised with the announcement Jan. 31 in the school cafeteria with all of the students present.
The Teachers of the Year for each campus were named last year and Bennett was one of seven finalists for the district wide Teacher of the Year.
Durant Superintendent Mark Moring was present to congratulate her and he told the students that the acronym for Teacher of the Year is “TOY.”
“Let’s give Mrs. Bennett a huge round of applause,” Moring said. “And if you see her during the day, tell her congratulations.”
Bennett expressed excitement about the honor.
“It was a complete shock and it is a great honor to be chosen by your peers and recognized by your district as the Teacher of the Year,” she said.
This is Bennett’s 13th year with the Durant School District and her 12th year in the classroom. She teachers kindergarten through fourth grade Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
NWH Principal Taylor Downs, in a social media post, said he is proud every day to work with Bennett.
“But, I am more proud to call her a friend,” Downs said. “NWH is so happy for you. You deserve this recognition of your hard work and dedication to Durant ISD.”
Moring, when interviewed after a Durant Board of Education meeting Monday afternoon, said the district has so many deserving teachers.
“All of them were deserving and when I heard it was Kasey Bennett at Northwest Heights, I was extremely excited just because she’s so creative and her STEM classes are just so much fun to be in,” Moring said. “I’ve been there a couple of times and it’s fun to to watch the kids get to create and think for themselves and it not just be rote memorization and different things like that. So, that’s what’s really unique to me about her and her class is just the opportunity she gives her kids to be creative and learn hands-on and learn by doing. So, it’s real exciting that she was Teacher of the Year. That is phenomenal.”
Moring said that the Teacher of the Year for each campus goes through an interview process with a committee before one is selected.
“It’s a pretty thorough process for us to select our site Teacher of the Year that they have to go through and Kasey rose to the top,” Moring said.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
