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Semifinalists for Colorado’s 2026 Teacher of the Year competition were selected from a record-breaking pool of 419 applicants and hail from 17 school districts and two charter schools.
The Colorado Department of Education announced the 22 semifinalists Thursday.
A spokesperson for the department said the state competition was modified to add a semifinalist round for the first time this year. The second phase of the contest includes additional essay questions. Five to seven finalists will be named in September and the Teacher of the Year award will be announced in October.
The winner will represent Colorado in the national Teacher of the Year competition. They will also serve on the Commissioner’s Teachers Cabinet statewide advisory panel, and act as an ambassador for the profession for the next year. The current Colorado Teacher of the Year is Janet Damon, a history teacher at DELTA High School in Denver.
The 22 semifinalists for the 2026 title are split about equally between elementary and secondary teachers. Three districts — Denver, Jeffco, and Mesa County Valley — have two semifinalists each. There are also finalists from some of Colorado’s smallest school districts, including the 144-student Revere district and the 47-student Campo district.
The semifinalists are:
- Julie Ahrens, kindergarten, Twin Peaks Classical Academy (authorized by St. Vrain Valley Schools)
- Artemio Baltazar, first grade, Grand Valley Center for Family Learning in Garfield County School District No. 16
- Sarah Bayer, science, Polaris Expeditionary Learning School in Poudre School District
- Jessica Bell, seventh grade literacy, Denver Green School Northfield in Denver Public Schools
- Kevin Brown, second grade, Red Rocks Elementary School in Jeffco Public Schools
- Liz Fitzgerald, first grade, Mesa View Elementary in Mesa County Valley School District 51
- Emily Gaytan, first grade, Centennial Elementary School in Harrison School District 2
- Malynda (Mindy) Green, math, social studies, and STEAM, Revere School in Revere School District
- Elisamaria Heredia, multilingual education, Alamosa Elementary School 3-5 in Alamosa School District
- Brittney Isom, fifth grade, Genoa-Hugo School in Genoa-Hugo School District
- Teri Kopack, English, Durango High School in Durango School District
- Stephanie LaCount, English language arts, Grand Junction High School in Mesa County Valley School District 51
- Julie Milam, science, Cañon City High School (CCHS) in Cañon City Schools
- Julie Naski Roman, literacy, math, and special education, Carson Elementary School in Denver Public Schools
- Stephen Paulson, social studies and AVID, Greeley Central High School in Greeley-Evans School District 6
- Tyler David Philipsen, English and video production, Coronado High School in Colorado Springs School District 11
- Gayathri Ramkumar, math, Aurora Central High School in Aurora Public Schools
- Diana Remick, science and gifted and talented, La Junta Primary School in East Otero School District
- Sabra Sowell-Lovejoy, social studies, Campo High School in Campo School District
- Elizabeth Rose Tarbutton, math, Peak to Peak Charter School (authorized by Boulder Valley School District)
- Kendall Van Valkenburg, English, Red Canyon High School in Eagle County School District
- León Vásquez, seventh grade science, Drake Middle School in Jeffco Public Schools
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
