Lyman Gilmore

This year the Nevada Countywide Teacher of the Year is Barry Kyle, who currently teaches the 6th and 7th grade STEAM Academy at Lyman Gilmore School. The nine school districts’ Teachers of the Year were honored at a recognition dinner on October 6, 2016 by school board members, ACSA, and NCSOS. In his humbling acceptance speech Mr. Kyle expressed “As educators we teach our students many different subjects. I teach students math, science, and technology. But the subject matter we teach pales in importance to the connections we make with our students. I’ve never had a former student tell me she really appreciated the day I taught her the Pythagorean Theorem. My former students bring up things like the time I helped them with a personal problem, or played a class game with them, or laughed with them. It is through these connections that we teach them the most important subject: how to be good people. We model it for them every day. We counsel them to make good choices and to do the right thing. We show them we care about them. We don’t give up on them. That is the greatest contribution a teacher can give.” And this is a lesson for us all. 

Here is the list of nine exemplary teachers that were selected as their school district’s Teacher of the Year. They are Ryan Ellis (Chicago Park SD), Barry Kyle (Grass Valley SD), Brian Ellis (Nevada City SD), Dan Martinez (NCSOS Yuba River Charter), Nanci Smith (NJUHSD), Beth Baker (Penn Valley Union Elementary SD), Michelle Bollen (Pleasant Ridge Union SD), Cheri Smith (Twin Ridges Elementary SD), and Wendy Goforth (Union Hill SD).

‘Teachers of the Year’ is a program of the California Department of Education, which begins at a school district level all the way to a national program. It is a voluntary program on the part of the districts and is a true honor to be selected for this recognition, as these teachers represent excellence in education in each of their academic arenas.