WILLCOX — An area teacher is in the running for Teacher of the Year.
On Monday, the Arizona Educational Foundation announced its five finalists for its 2023 Teacher of the Year, and Ty White from Willcox is one of the five.
White is a chemistry teacher at Willcox High School. He’s the first area teacher to be named a finalist since Willcox’s Margie Looney was a finalist in 2015.
White is no stranger to awards. In 2021, he was named Arizona Rural Schools Association Teacher of the Year, and he was the 2020 High School Teacher of the Year for the Rocky Mountain Region of the American Chemical Society.
In addition to teaching chemistry, he is Willcox High School’s Knowledge Bowl sponsor, Gifted Club sponsor, Robotics sponsor, Space Settlement design coach and organizer, and one of the leaders of the school’s STEM Program.
The winner will be named Saturday, Oct. 15, at a ceremony at the Madison Center for the Arts in Phoenix.
The winning teacher will receive $15,000 from the Arizona Educational Foundation; paid travel to several National Teacher of the Year events, including a trip to the White House to meet the president; and a week-long trip to the International Space Camp in Alabama.
Other nominees include Amber Gould, an English teacher at Greenway High School in Glendae; R. Scott Harnisch, a music teacher at Kyrene del Norte Dual Language Academy; Royd Lee, a Navajo language teacher at Tuba City Elementary; and Annie Shannahan, a history and government teacher ay Maryvale High School in Phoenix.
