25 Arizona Educators Honored

Gov. Napolitano announced Arizona’s 1st Master Teachers at the State Board of Education meeting in Phoenix. The Master Teachers program is designed to match talented, experienced educators with new or struggling teachers in an effort to encourage them to stay on the job. Twenty-five educators statewide were named Distinguished Educators, & 18 of those have agreed to take on the responsibility of Master Teacher. Each of the honorees had to complete a strenuous process to be named a Distinguished Educator & agree to mentor other teachers for at least 3 years before earning the title of Master Teacher.

The Master Teacher initiative is the 1st program to use its resources to target schools least likely to have mentors & to have the greatest difficulty attracting & retaining quality educators such as in rural & isolated schools & schools with many children living in poverty. Master Teacher grants are used to provide ongoing mentor training to Master Teachers, fund stipends for Master Teachers & to develop Master Teachers through National Board scholarships.

A complete list of the Master Teachers & Distinguished Educators is below.

Master Teachers (School district in parentheses)

Sandy Czachor – Rio Vista/Mesa Verde School (Amphitheatre)

Cynthia Daniels – Paradise Valley USD No. 69 (Paradise Valley Unified)

Brenda Kreidler – Walker/Wilson (Amphitheatre)

Amy Marshall – Marie Bartlett Heard (Phoenix Elementary)

Elizabeth Minno – Nash/Ironwood (Amphitheatre)

Annette Orelup – Prince/Donaldson (Amphitheatre)

Debra Romancho – Hoaway/Harelson Elementary (Amphitheatre)

Mary Tafoya-Rodriguez – Heard/Emerson School (Phoenix Elementary)

Jeannie Wager – Amphitheatre/Cross Middle School (Amphitheatre)

Judith Ann White – W.F. Killip Elementary (Flagstaff)

Delyssa Begay – Chinle High (Chinle)

Constance Benally – Tuba City Junior High (Tuba City)

Norma Booth – Mexiacayotl Academy (Charter)

Delma Glasgow – Tuba City Junior High (Tuba City)

W. Darlene Mansouri – Keeling and Copper Creek Elementary (Amphitheatre)

Kathy Marston – Lowell Elementary (Phoenix Elementary)

Mary Phillips – Window Rock Elementary (Window Rock)

Connie Terrizzi – Indian Oasis Primary (Indian Oasis)

Christine Yazzie – Tse Ho Tso Primary Learning Center (Window Rock)

Distinguished Educators (School district in parentheses)

Nichole Evans – Mesquite Junior High (Gilbert)

Taryl Hargens – Sunset Canyon Elementary (Paradise Valley Unified)

Rose Kilmas-Smith – Finley Farms Elementary (Gilbert)

Karen Lynn Weber – Flagstaff High (Flagstaff)

Diana Laufenberg – Mount Elden Middle School (Flagstaff)

Chris Potter – La Cima Middle School (Amphitheatre)

Beth Sanborn – Mount Elden Middle School (Flagstaff)