The state Department of Education announced four teachers who remain in the running for the 2024 Arkansas Teacher of the Year.
They come from Greenbrier, Bryant, Fort Smith and De Queen schools.
The Arkansas Teacher of the Year will spend time on paid administrative leave from his or her district to work with the Arkansas Department of Education and attend Arkansas Board of Education meetings as a nonvoting member; provide technical assistance to Arkansas teachers and students; serve as an ambassador for education in Arkansas; make public appearances across the state; and represent Arkansas in the National Teacher of the Year competition.
The four emerged from a field of previously announced 14 regional teachers of the year. One of the four will be selected as Arkansas Teacher of the Year.
One of the four finalists, Jeremy Kennedy, an Advanced Placement Language and Composition teacher at Greenbrier High School, said he felt “very honored, especially amongst all these really courageous, top-tier educators.”
Kennedy’s respect for his fellow educators speaks to the award’s status, which was driven home by another finalist, Nicole Franklin, of Orr Elementary School in Fort Smith.
“It means that I am making a difference,” Franklin said, “and people are recognizing it.”
The award ceremony took place at the Governor’s Mansion and included remarks from Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who reminded the audience of her commitment to raising teacher salaries across the state.
The LEARNS Act, or Act 237 of 2023, championed and signed into law March 8 by Sanders, overhauls pre-kindergarten through 12th grade education in the state. The act raises the minimum teacher salary from $36,000 to $50,000 for this 2023-2024 school year and ensures that every teacher receives at least a $2,000 raise.
The act also provides for 120 literacy coaches to be deployed around the state and for “high impact tutoring,” for students. It calls for the retention of elementary pupils who are not reading at grade level at the end of third grade — with exceptions for those with special needs.
The LEARNS Act further authorizes the use of public funding for private school tuition and other expenses. The new Education Freedom Accounts will provide eligible families with up to $6,6oo this coming year or 90% of the state guaranteed funding per public school student for private school tuition, uniforms and supplies. The Education Freedom Accounts are being phased in, but by 2025-2026 all families will be eligible to apply and obtain the private school vouchers.
The focus on education reform has sparked a sense of optimism in some of these finalists as well.
“I think we are all moving in the right direction, and working together is gonna make all the difference,” Franklin said.
Another of the four finalists thinks that the support for passionate educators is what is best for Arkansas students and schools in general.
“We want to do what is best for kids,” Kassadi Seidenschnur, of Hurricane Creek Elementary in the Bryant School District, said, “and the teachers need support and everything they can get, so we can make school and education better.”
Many of the finalists also said they felt that their own recognition could help shine a positive light toward their respective schools and school districts. Beau McCastlain of De Queen High School said he hopes this helps “bring recognition to all the great things going [on].”
“I am a small part of the magic going on in De Queen public schools,” McCastlain said.
Designed to reward passionate and dedicated teachers, the award helps some overcome doubts about their purpose in educating. The previous Arkansas teacher of the year, Capri Salaam, of North Little Rock Middle School, summed up the effect recognition like this can have.
“It kind of reaffirmed to me, that this job is a calling,” Salaam said.
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