Juneau teacher Amy Jo Meiners has been named 2016 Alaska Teacher of the Year.
Alaska Education Commissioner Mike Hanley made the announcement Sunday at the Association of Alaska School Boards conference.
Meiners works with gifted and talented students as an extended learning teacher at Auke Bay and Riverbend elementary schools.
The selection process is based on a written application reviewed by a committee of educators, followed by interviews with the top ranked applicants.
The state title puts her in the running to be the National Teacher of the Year to be announced in April. The national teacher of the year serves as a spokesperson for the profession who is given a paid leave of absence for one year to travel for speaking engagements and policy commissions.
Jeremy Hsieh is the deputy managing editor of the KTOO newsroom in Juneau. He’s a podcast fiend who’s worked in journalism since high school as a reporter, editor and television producer. He ran Gavel Alaska for 360 North from 2011 to 2016, and is big on experimenting with novel tools and mediums (including the occasional animated gif) to tell stories and demystify the news. Jeremy’s an East Coast transplant who moved to Juneau in 2008.
