It's time to celebrate the educators who are making a positive impact in their students' lives. We will be collecting nominations for the Parents' Choice Award until January 7, 2022 and selecting 10 finalists in each category—Teacher and Staff/Admin. The list of finalists and a description of why they were nominated will be posted, and all UPU parents will get a chance to vote for their favorite. ​The winner in each category will receive the Parents' Choice Award and a gift basket.

    NOMINATED TEACHERS

    Please vote at bottom of page
    Marisa Wilson, Athlos Academy
    If all teachers encompassed the understanding and compassion Ms. Wilson possesses, every child would feel heard, understood, empowered, and confident. Ms. Wilson is a Kindergarten teacher and is kicking off these children’s academic careers in the most positive direction they can receive. My son is diagnosed with anxiety and struggles to adjust to change. Imagine his world being flipped when he started school at a “big kid’s school” this year! As much as we prepared him, he struggled the first few weeks - which in return, we as parents struggled. His anxiety was expressing itself as anger, high energy, and mistrust. We weren’t sure how much help and understanding he was truly getting at school and we were feeling frustrated. However, Parent Teacher Conference presented itself just when we all needed it. I was worried we’d get a brief 5-10 minute window and not much time to really address concerns, boy was I wrong. Not once did Ms. Wilson make me feel like she was waiting for her next appointment. We connected immediately and as a parent, seeing her become emotional as she expressed her efforts to understand, help, and just love my son, filled my heart and brought such comfort. She could see my son needed these extra efforts to adjust and needed to build his trust with her. She even involved his classmates to help them understand that some friends just need a little extra support and a helping hand when they have big feelings to work through. She creates a family-environment in the classroom so all children feel understood and in return, feel confident and can be successful. Immediately after PTC, working together now, my son’s behavior completely turned around and he’s been absolutely thriving ever since. His confidence in his schoolwork and friendships is thriving - and this is reflected in our home environment as well. If I could bring Ms. Wilson along through every school year of his life, I’d do it. We’ve had several educators in our son’s life and none have made the impact Ms. Wilson has. She encompasses everything a teacher should strive to become to make a difference in children’s lives - they will carry the confidence and understanding she gives them for years to come.
    Gordon Geddes, Green Canyon High
    I don't even know where to begin! My daughter has taken Mr. Geddes Psychology 1010 class, been a teacher's aid for him, and he has been one of her advisors for the kids involved in student government for her 3 years in student government. Trying to sum up how we feel about him is difficult because he has had such a positive influence on my daughter and many other students. Mr. Geddes knows what it means to teach students how to really think critically. He never pushes his ideas on them; he lets them learn. He asks them great questions that help them to think and solve problems on their own. He helps them to see all sides of an issue. He is not judgmental. Mr. Geddes inspires them by helping them to see what a good influence they can have on those around them as student leaders. It amazes me how involved yet "hands off" he is when he is helping the student body officers plan something big. He allows them to be successful and they get all the credit, and at the same time he won't rescue them when they need to learn from failures. He is one of those teachers that I trust wholeheartedly. His heart is completely committed to helping our students progress and learn. Because of him, my daughter is seriously considering being a high school teacher and wants to have the same impact he has had on so many. Mr. Geddes is one of the guards of virtue in our schools without having to preach a thing. He reminds me that there are so many good teachers that still want to teach the values that will help our students become good citizens in our country and in the world.
    Erin Sanabria, West Valley Elementary
    She encourages my daughter and provides opportunities for her to excel. She makes learning fun for every student. She gives me (the parent) things to work on with my child. She never caps off a child learning ability and really individualized each child's education. She is such a great teacher.
    Rhett Cook, Layton High School
    Mr. Cook has been the best secondary teacher my son has had, hands down! He taught him life lessons in an engaging, informative and kind way. He has a strong passion for what he does and it shows. He’s very knowledgeable with all things history and knows how to teach it to teenagers in a way that they enjoy learning it. I ask every one of my kids teacher’s for a note of advice at the end of the year (or semester for semester only classes) that I can compile into a book for them on their graduation day. Some never respond, some give a one or two sentence, “good luck”, but not Mr. Cook. He is the only teacher in the last 10 years, between 4 kids, that put a lot of thought and effort in giving my child a page and a half typed letter with the best advice I’ve ever seen. Every teenager needs a copy! I shared it with all of my family. He went above and beyond to help this one student. He deserves this more than anyone I know.
    Mrs. Tolman
    Mrs. Tolman, Foothills Elementary. After a rough year with a teacher in 4th grade, my son did the first half of 5th English studies online. After being an aide for Mrs. tolman I saw how good she is for her students and how she would have a positive impact on my son. She is a boy mom, so she doesn't expect boys in her class to be meek and quiet. She comes up with interactive ways to teach. One activity was with math and using QR codes to choose your answer. She would then scan the code they held up and it would tell her what percentage of the class choose each answer and then they would solve together. She got my son to trust teachers again and not hate school. She is wonderful!
    Carla Stanley, Heritage Elementary
    Mrs. Stanley has gone above and beyond to help my son. He has a unique difficulty at school that is not well known. How to appropriately help him is even less known. Mrs. Stanley made every effort to get trained on the best way to interact with him to help him improve. She met with him before the school year began multiple times and helped even after the school year ended. She did so much more than teach him curriculum. She saw his potential and sought to help him reach for it. She took him and his plight into her heart and did all she could could to help him succeed. She was a positive aspect in his every day at school, many of which are really hard. She helped him find a safe space in a very uncomfortable environment all the while supporting and pushing him forward. Mrs. Stanley has been and continues to be a wonderful and positive influence at the school. We are so grateful for her!
    John Harris, Belmont Elementary
    Mr Harris teaches my daughter’s class. She has autism. He’s been teaching 1-2 grade autism kids for years. He is absolutely the BEST teacher ever. He puts tons of extra time into his lessons. He fills them full of music, movement, hands on interaction, all while helping them succeed academically. He is so loving to each kid. He is so kind to parents and open to suggestions and modifications to each child’s educational and social needs. My daughter who is slightly verbal talks about him all the time when she’s at home. I can just say his name and she completely lights up and starts jumping up and down she’s so excited to talk about him. She misses him and school on weekends and breaks and is always so excited to see “Harris” again when it’s time to go back to school. He works so hard as a teacher. Teaching a class full of 12 or more autistic kids takes a very special kind of person, and that person is Mr Harris!!
    Tasha Lewis, Oakridge
    Tasha was my special needs son’s teacher for most the last 8 years of his schooling career. She never acted like just a teacher. She was constantly thinking outside the box to come up with new ways to help my son. He is blind, non-verbal, with cerebral palsy. She became one of his top advocates! I owe thanks to her for so many of his advances!