RPDC announces Regional Teachers of the Year

The Northwest Regional Professional Development Center at Northwest Missouri State University has announced two area teachers as its 2022-23 Regional Teachers of the Year.

This year’s honorees are Kim Fish, a Spanish instructor with the King City R-I School District, and Rachael Luke, an elementary special education teacher with the Stanberry R-II School District.

Fish has 35 years of teaching experience, including the last three in King City. With degrees from Bluffton University and Louisiana Tech University, she also has taught in Louisiana and Honduras as well as at Missouri State University and in the North Daviess R-III and Pattonsburg R-II school districts.

Luke has eight years of teaching experience, including the last seven in Stanberry. Luke, who started her career in the Northeast Nodaway R-V School District, has a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education and a master’s degree in reading education, both from Northwest.

The Northwest Regional Teacher of the Year award is part of the Missouri Teacher of the Year program, sponsored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The program recognizes the efforts of effective teachers in providing quality education to their students. Preparing, developing and supporting effective educators is one of DESE’s primary goals.

The honorees are now eligible to compete for the 2022-2023 Missouri Teacher of the Year. A selection committee, comprising teachers, business leaders and education organization leaders, will choose the Missouri Teacher of the Year after interviews with each finalist this fall. The winner and the finalists will be honored at an October banquet in Jefferson City, Missouri. The Missouri Teacher of the Year serves as the state’s nominee for the National Teacher of the Year competition.

The Northwest Regional Professional Development Center supports and provides professional development activities for K-12 educators in more than 60 school districts in the 15-county Northwest region.