October 25, 2024 — Amarillo ISD’s Humphrey’s Highland fifth-grade science and English/language arts teacher Kristi Leff is the 2025 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year, the Texas Association of School Administrators announced.
Two winners, one elementary teacher, and one secondary teacher, were named at an awards ceremony at Kalahari Resort & Convention Center in Round Rock, Texas, on Friday, October 25.
Leff has taught at Humphrey’s Highland since 2015 and has previously taught at schools in Florida as well as Calallen and Mathis ISD in Texas during her 21-year career. She has been named Campus Teacher of the Year several times, including at Magee Intermediate in Calallen in 2009, at Springhead Elementary in Plant City, Florida in 2014, and this year at Humphrey's Highland.
As she was named Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year, Leff took to the stage and gave remarks to a room of administrators and regional Teachers of the Year. She told a touching story about connecting with a student in her first year of teaching before bringing the room to laughter with an anecdote about life in Leff’s classroom.
“I owe everything to my students and, of course, my administration, who allow me to do the crazy things I do, like store a chicken coop at school. We had the chickens, I just needed the coop. They don’t know yet,” said Leff.
She went on to offer some words of encouragement to her fellow teachers. “We need to come together, nurture our students, and do what we all came here to do: love them, show them that they have value, offer them a safe space, change their lives, and build the leaders of tomorrow.”
The Texas Teacher of the Year program has honored excellence in classroom education since 1969.
Amarillo ISD has a proud legacy of producing state and nationally-recognized teachers.
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1992 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year – Mary McFarland of Amarillo High School
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1993 State Finalist for Elementary Teacher of the Year – Donna Hill of Windsor Elementary School
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1995 State Finalist for Secondary Teacher of the Year – Kim Beth Buchanan of Crockett Middle School
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2006 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year – Cindy Lewis of Whittier Elementary School
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2008 State Finalist for Secondary Teacher of the Year – Vicki Mueller of Austin Middle School
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2015 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year and National Teacher of the Year – Shanna Peeples of Palo Duro High School
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2025 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year – Kristi Leff of Humphrey’s Highland Elementary
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