The mark of a stellar teacher lasts for decades, if not a lifetime.  The lives of children all across Canyons are being changed for good every day by the educators who work in CSD schools.

After all, thanks largely to the work of Canyons’ corps of teachers, CSD students outperform their peers statewide on nearly every learning assessment, CSD schools dominate the U.S. News and World Report rankings of Utah’s top schools, and Canyons has been ranked the No. 1 District in the Salt Lake Valley by Niche.com for five consecutive years. 

It’s time to thank our teachers for their dedication to their students, school communities — and the continued success of Canyons School District.

Parents, students, patrons, and employees can express appreciation for their favorite educators in nominations for CSD’s 2026 Teacher of the Year — an honor that will be announced April 21 at a free and open-to-the-public red-carpet catered reception and ceremony.

Nominations will be accepted via the online nomination tool until 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 6.

There is no limit to the number of nominations anyone can submit. 

Here’s how you can help CSD select the 2026 Teacher of the Year:

• Access the nomination tool on the CSD website.
• Tell us why you think your nominee should be recognized.  The e-nomination will be sent to the principal where the nominated teacher works. The nominations will then be reviewed by the principal, School Community Council chair, the PTA/PTSA President, and an Education Support Professional representative. This group will select the school’s winner.
• Watch for social media posts of each school’s surprise announcement of that year’s Teacher of the Year. 
• Attend or watch the livestream of the Tuesday, April 21 ceremony to hear which CSD teacher is selected for her or his commitment to student achievement, innovation, and leadership. The ceremony, which will begin at 7 p.m., will be preceded by the 6:15 p.m. reception. This year’s event will be at Union Middle, 615 E. 8000 South.

An evaluation process helps narrow the list to a group of semifinalists. From that field, three finalists are selected — one from the elementary level, another from the middle schools, and one from the high school ranks of educators.

One of the three finalists is then selected to represent Canyons in the state Teacher of the Year contest. The winning educator also will receive the 2026 Apex Award for Teacher of the Year, the highest award given to teachers by the Canyons Board of Education and Administration.

Every school-based Teacher of the Year will receive gifts and prizes from the Canyons Education Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the District.

The Canyons Teacher of the Year program is generously supported by local businesses and the CSD Foundation, which also provides cash prizes for each finalist. The overall Teacher of the Year receives an additional cash prize from the Foundation and its partners.

The winner will follow in the footsteps of some of CSD’s most distinguished faculty.

Midvale Elementary’s Lucia de la Cruz Rodriguez in 2025 became the first dual-language immersion teacher to win CSD’s coveted top-teacher award. See this video on CSDtv to find out more about her teaching style and educational philosophy. 

Alta High math teacher Kevin Clyde was named the 2024 Teacher of the Year, and Midvale Middle math educator Max Eddington was a 2023 finalist for the state designation.  

CSD’s top teacher in 2022 was Draper Elementary’s Katie Tinoco. In 2021, CSD honored Alta High’s Traci Raymond. Eastmont Middle’s Emma Moss won the award in 2020.

Midvale Elementary teacher Jessica Beus was Canyons’ Teacher of the Year in 2019. In 2018, Corner Canyon High’s Amber Rogers, received the cash prize from the Canyons Education Foundation. Previous CSD Teacher of the Year winners include Union Middle’s Drew Fosse, Peruvian Park Elementary’s Gretchen Murray, Alta High’s Matt Leininger, Brookwood Elementary’s Monica Rotermund, Sprucewood Elementary’s Michele Law, Eastmont Middle’s Amy Bateman, Quail Hollow’ Elementary’s Naomi Damron, and Brighton High’s Barb Scrafford.