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Janet Damon, Colorado’s 2025 Trainer of the 12 months, is one in all 4 finalists for the Nationwide Trainer of the 12 months award, the group that runs the competition introduced Thursday.
A historical past trainer at Denver Public Faculties’ DELTA Excessive Faculty, Damon can also be a DPS graduate and profession educator who has spent 25 years working as a trainer, librarian, library specialist and coach, and literacy interventionist, in keeping with the college district.
Damon co-founded a e-book membership centered on empowerment known as Afros and Books that promotes equal entry to books in underserved communities, in keeping with the Colorado Division of Schooling. She additionally organizes out of doors actions for households reminiscent of mountaineering, kayaking, archery, yoga, fly fishing, and birding, the division mentioned.
“I’m actually honored to be named a finalist for the Nationwide Trainer of the 12 months award,” Damon mentioned in a press launch. “This recognition is a mirrored image of the superb college students, colleagues, and neighborhood I’m lucky to work with day-after-day. Educating is about empowering others, and I’m excited to proceed sharing the unimaginable work occurring in our school rooms.”
The opposite finalists are Ashlie Crosson, an English trainer in Pennsylvania; Mikaela Saelua, an English trainer within the Western District of American Samoa; and Jazzmyne Townsend, an elementary college literacy tutorial coach in Washington, D.C., in keeping with the Council of Chief State Faculty Officers, which runs the annual contest.
The winner can be introduced this spring. The Nationwide Trainer of the 12 months will spend a 12 months performing as an envoy and advocate for lecturers and college students. The present Nationwide Trainer of the 12 months is Missy Testerman, who teaches English learners in Tennessee.
When Damon was named Colorado Trainer of the 12 months in a shock ceremony at DELTA Excessive Faculty in October, one in all her college students known as her a “guiding spirit.”
In deciding on her as Colorado Trainer of the 12 months, the state training division cited Damon’s give attention to serving to college students think about options to issues within the state and their lives, together with by creating podcasts on homelessness, gun violence, incarceration, inflation, and immigration.
“Janet Damon exemplifies what it means to fulfill the second as an educator,” Denver Superintendent Alex Marrero mentioned in a press launch. “She responds to every pupil’s distinctive wants with creativity, constructing pleasure for studying and galvanizing each pupil she touches. Her impression is transformative, shaping the longer term one pupil at a time.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis known as the finalist nomination “well-deserved.”
“I’m thrilled that Janet can be representing Colorado on this prestigious nationwide stage and we’re rooting for her each step of the way in which,” Polis mentioned in a press launch.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.