Montana Teacher of the Year

The mission of the Montana Teacher of the Year Program is to elevate student success by empowering classroom innovation and enhancing pathways to teacher leadership.

2024 Montana Teacher of the Year Award Finalists

This year, 41 teachers from across the state were nominated by community members, teachers, administrators, and parents. Of those nominated, 19 teachers successfully applied to be the 2024 Teacher of the Year. The process is framed by two committees of stakeholders. This first committee reviewed and narrowed the applications to these four finalists.

Teresa Heil, a K-12 Visual Arts teacher at Frazer Public Schools
Jacob Turcotte, a 7th-grade English teacher and the lead teacher for the Buffalo Unity Project at Poplar Middle School
Tamara Fisher Alley, a K-12 Gifted Education Specialist for the Polson School District
Kevin Kicking Woman, a Blackfeet Language and Culture teacher at Browning High School

MontanaTeacher of the Year logo

A+ The TOY Program elevates student success by celebrating teachers who honor individual student strengths and each child’s unique abilities.

A+ The TOY Program empowers classroom innovation by recognizing teachers who are responsive to the complex realities that define Montana’s diverse and unique classrooms across the state.

A+ The TOY Program enhances pathways to teacher leadership by creating teacher ambassadors at the local, state, and national level to connect classrooms to the community.

2024 Program Timeline

April 12, 2023 - Nomination and application window opens
May 12, 2023 - Nominations due
June 23, 2023 - Applications due to MTTOY@mt.gov
July-August 2023 - Applications reviewed by committees
Mid-September 2023 - Finalists selected
Mid-September 2023 - Finalists interviewed by state committee, MT TOY selected
October 2023 - National Teacher of the Year Application Due to CCSSO
February 2024 - MT TOY begins duties and NTOY activities

2023 Montana Teacher of the Year

2023 Teacher of the Year
Catherine Matthews of Bozeman

2023 Teacher of the Year, Catherine Matthews of Bozeman Catherine Matthews currently teaches the Early Childhood Special Education Preschool Classroom at Hyalite Elementary School in Bozeman, Montana. Matthews has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Montana State University Bozeman and a Master of Science in Special Education from Montana State University Billings.

She has been a Montana Special Education Preschool Teacher for twenty years and is the mother to two amazing boys who are always willing to help with prepping activities and celebrations for her students. Matthews also operates an organic farm, and donkey rescue, and is an apiarist (beekeeper) in the Gallatin Valley, striving to provide local, farm-to-market, healthy food options and learning opportunities for her students, families, and local community.