March 21, 2025 – Three elementary school teachers and three secondary teachers are finalists for District Teacher of the Year, Amarillo ISD announced Friday.
District Teacher of the Year Finalists are:
Elementary Finalists:
Jessica Appel - Mesa Verde
Andrea Cash - Sleepy Hollow
Jessica Runyon - South Lawn
Secondary Finalists:
Jenna Boroughs - Bowie 6th Grade Campus
Jennifer Towles - Caprock High School
Jon Dennis - Travis 6th Grade Campus
District finalists are chosen from a pool of campus teachers of the year, representing each of AISD’s 55 schools and itinerant teaching staff. One elementary District Teacher of the Year and one secondary District Teacher of the Year will be announced Friday, May 2nd, at the Lamar Lively Teacher of the Year breakfast sponsored by Education Credit Union. The District winners will go on to represent AISD in the competition for Region 16 Teacher of the Year this summer.
In October, Humphrey’s Highland Elementary teacher Kristi Leff became AISD’s fourth educator to earn the title of Texas Teacher of the Year. 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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