PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s that time of year again for four educators in Oregon and Southwest Washington to be honored with the Educator of the Year Award from OnPoint Community Credit Union. The recipients get their mortgage or rent paid for an entire year, and their school gets a $2,500 donation.
Runners-up don’t leave empty-handed either; they get $5,000, and their school receives a $1,500 donation.
On Thursday at 7 p.m., KGW ‘s Christine Pitawanich announced the recipients of the award live on the air during KGW’s "The Good Stuff."
Teachers, their families, friends and OnPoint representatives gathered at Revolution Hall in Southeast Portland for the event. There were two finalists per category: K-5, 6-8, 9-12 and Gold Star. The Gold Star category was introduced in 2023 and encompasses preschool teachers, counselors, librarians, administrators and substitute teachers.
Here is a list of the OnPoint Educator of the Year Award finalists with the winner of each category marked:
K-5 – Roxana Campbell, a 1st grade teacher at HOLLA School in the Reynolds School District who makes it a point to teach her class about leaders of color throughout history so students can discover role models who look like them.
K-5 – (Winner) Rachel Hertz, a 1st grade teacher at North Star Elementary School in the Bend-La Pine School District. When she recognizes a student’s family doesn’t have the resources to support them outside of school, she sends books home and gives them access to other applications to support their education.
6-8 – Lynda Beauchamp, a 6th and 7th grade math teacher at Realms Middle School in the Bend-La Pine School District. Not only did she create the school’s “Mathletes Club,” but she also helped create curriculum math students who need an extra challenge
6-8 – (Winner) Sherry Reeder is a 6th-8th grade special education teacher at the Molalla River School District. Among other things, she worked with school administrators to conduct focus groups to uncover the reason behind low satisfaction scores from students. This effort led to the implementation of “brain breaks” to help reduce anxiety and stress.
9-12 – Andrew Gunsul, a 9th-12th grade Social Studies teacher at Sunset High School in the Beaverton School District. He turns many of his Social Studies lessons into innovative experiences by hosting the “Geography Olympics.” He also runs an after-school tutoring academy for Freshmen students.
9-12 – (Winner) Michelle Colbert, who is 9th-12th grade teacher at the Career and Technical Education program at Fir Ridge Campus in the David Douglas School District. Among the many things she does to ensure her students’ success and enjoyment of her class, she collaborated with Nike’s Inventors Club and local professionals to provide opportunities for her students to show off their skills.
Gold Star – Marine Banett is the principal at Columbia City Elementary in St. Helens School District. One of her proudest achievements was setting up an outdoor learning space. She also played a key role in launching a district-wide Summer Academy program, providing academic enrichment to kids during the summer months.
Gold Star – (Winner) Traniece Brown-Warrens is the principal at Markham Elementary School. Among the many things she has implemented, she started an initiative giving each student “What I need” time for each day. As a result of her efforts, Markham has seen a rise in statewide assessment scores for math, English and students’ sense of belonging. She also put in a book vending machine.
In addition, OnPoint has provided $2,000 grants to four schools as part of its Community Builder Award and based on community votes, Adams Elementary in Corvalis received $5,000 to support creative of a school mural.
Congratulations to all the recipients! For more information on the OnPoint Prize for Excellence, visit this website: https://www.onpointcu.com/onpoint-prize/educator-of-the-year/