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.