by Megan Caldwell

Annually, only 40 teachers in the United States are awarded the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year award. This year, one of our very own elementary teachers, Stacey Johnson, was selected!

Mrs. Johnson and her third grade students are pictured here. According to her previous students now in high school, she has deserved this award for a long time.

A Wal-Mart employee must nominate a teacher to receive the Teacher of the Year Award. The Wal-Mart employee must submit the teacher’s name with the reason why the nominee should be considered for the award. Forty of the nominated teachers are then chosen randomly from across the United States to receive a $250 gift card to spend at Wal-Mart on their classrooms.

Angela Grogan, who works at Wal-Mart in Mtn. View, nominated Mrs. Johnson. “I was excited to learn that Angela took the time to enter me as a Teacher of the Year candidate. That was quite a surprise and I thank her for doing it. People are so busy these days, and it says a lot to me that Angela cared enough to take the time to nominate me,” said Mrs. Johnson.

Ms. Grogan rearranged her work schedule to come to the Monday morning Rise and Shine ceremony to see Mrs. Johnson receive the award. Also present at the ceremony was Shawana Cox from Wal-Mart . She came to officially present the $250 gift card and a bouquet of flowers to Mrs. Johnson.

Mrs. Johnson said about the gift card, “I asked my class to help me with ideas on how to spend it. After I explained to them that a Wii and a pizza party were not the best choices, they are beginning to come up with other more educational ideas! We haven’t decided yet what to spend it on but are looking at books, science materials, and we really want a Venus Fly Trap, but I’m not so sure Wal-Mart carries those.”

This is Mrs. Johnson’s tenth year teaching third grade at Willow Springs. Her experiences at Willow Springs School started long before she began to teach here; she is a 1983 graduate of Willow Springs High School. Go Bears!