Submitted
Tracie Betz, an early childhood special education preschool teacher at Quinter Elementary School, Quinter USD 293, and Tranda Strnad, art teacher at Republic County High School, Republic County USD 109, were named Region 1 finalists for the 2026 Kansas Teacher of the Year (KTOY) award program during a ceremony on Saturday, April 12.
This award recognizes excellent teaching in the elementary and secondary classrooms of the state. The KTOY Region 1 awards banquet took place at Tony’s Pizza Event Center, in Salina.
As finalists for the Kansas Teacher of the Year distinction, Betz and Strnad each will receive a $2,000 cash award from Security Benefit, the major corporate partner for the KTOY program. In addition, they are each now eligible to be named Kansas Teacher of the Year, which will be announced during a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 20, in Wichita.
Betz and Strnad were among six KTOY semifinalists from Region 1, which covers Kansas’s 1st U.S. congressional district.
The other Region 1 KTOY semifinalists are Whitney George, fourth grade teacher at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School, Manhattan-Ogden USD 383; Katherine Jimenez, a music teacher at Hugoton Elementary School, Hugoton USD 210; Mandy Burger, family and consumer science teacher at Ellsworth High School, Ellsworth USD 327; and Mark Shera Cruz, a physics, human antimony and physiology teacher at Garden City High School, Garden City USD 457.
Each of the semifinalists will receive a red marble apple with a wooden base, compliments of The Master Teacher in Manhattan.
This year, 136 educators across the state were nominated for the Kansas Teacher of the Year distinction.
Nominations are made in each of the four regions in the state. The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE), sponsor of the KTOY program, appoints regional selection panels comprised of teachers, education administrators and business representatives to select semifinalists and finalists from each region.
Each panel selects six semifinalists - three elementary teachers and three secondary teachers. From those semifinalists, the panel in each region then selects one elementary finalist and one secondary finalist. The Kansas Teacher of the Year is selected from among the state’s eight regional finalists.
The mission of the KTOY program is to build and utilize a network of exemplary teachers who are leaders in the improvement of schools, student performance and the teaching profession.
Members of the Kansas Teacher of the Year team, comprised of the Teacher of the Year and regional finalists, serve as ambassadors for education in Kansas, making public appearances across the state to promote education and the teaching profession.
The individual selected as the Kansas Teacher of the Year is eligible for selection as the National Teacher of the Year.
The National Teacher of the Year program is a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers in partnership with the Voya Foundation.