Meet the 2021 Teach Indy Educator Award Winners

Teach Indy received over 60 applications and 90 nominations from schools across center township. 

On Sunday, April 11, Teach Indy celebrated the final day of the inaugural Teach Indy Educators Conference by recognizing a group of 20 excellent educators across center township. Teachers were nominated by their school leadership and/or peers and completed an award application process. All applications underwent a review and selection process with team members from the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office of Education Innovation (OEI), Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS), The Mind Trust, the 2022 College Football Playoff Host Committee, Teachers’ Treasures, and JDA Worldwide.

Each winner received a certificate, social media recognition, professional development resources, and a $2,000 award. Congratulations to all of these excellent educators!

Let’s meet the award winners:

African American Teacher of the Year

Kari Clark, HL Harshman Magnet Middle School

Center Township Alumni Teacher of the Year

Ashé West, Thrival Academy

Community Engagement Award

Felicia Glinsey-Butler, Vision Academy at Riverside

English Language Arts Teacher of the Year

Kendall Locey, Victory College Prep 

Elementary Teacher of the Year

Julie Busch, IPS William McKinley 39

English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher of the Year

Briana Leeper, KIPP Legacy High School

LatinX Teacher of the Year

Lidia Mercedes Vidal, Global Prep Academy

Math Teacher of the Year

Ella Hereth, HL Harshman Magnet Middle School

Mentor Teacher/Teacher Coach of the Year

JaVaughn Hardaway, Longfellow STEM/Medical Magnet Middle School

OEI Elementary Teacher of the Year

Ashley Hogan, Tindley Summit

OEI High School Teacher of the Year

Shannon Brown, Indianapolis Metropolitan High School

OEI Middle School Teacher of the Year

Carmella Sparrow, KIPP Indy College Prep Middle School

PE/Health Teacher of the Year

Samuel Jacobs, Tindley Summit

Science Teacher of the Year

Jack Hesser, HL Harshman Magnet Middle School

Secondary Teacher of the Year

Keith Thomas Jr, Paramount School of Excellence, Brookside

Social Studies Teacher of the Year

Briana Miles, Thrival Academy

Social Emotional Champion

Chad Taylor, Victory College Prep

Social Justice Champion

Megan Fitzgerald, Invent Learning Hub

Specials Area/CTE Teacher of the Year

Abigail O’Dell, Victory College Prep

Special Education Teacher of the Year

Nicole Schadek, Purdue Polytechnic High School, Englewood

Teach Indy would like to thank our conference sponsors: The Mind Trust, The Mayor’s Office of Innovation, InnoPower, Teachers’ Treasures, Buzzworthy LLC, Frontrunner Media, and the Educate ME Foundation, for their generous support of the conference and our teacher award winners.