Joplin Schools announces Teacher of the Year finalists

(From Joplin Schools)

Please help us congratulate the 2025-26 Joplin Schools Teacher of the Year Finalists! 

These teachers were nominated by our community, earned their building's Teacher of the Year award, and will now go on to be interviewed by a panel of judges to determine which one will represent our district as the Joplin Schools Teacher of the Year.

Each of these finalists are talented, experienced, compassionate, collaborative, highly skilled, and above all, dedicated to supporting their students in becoming the very best versions of themselves:

Anne Jakaitis, First Grade, Soaring Heights Elementary

Whitney Benfield, Fifth Grade, Irving Elementary

Stacie Frieze, Special Education, McKinley Elementary

Angela Graves, 7th Grade Reading, North Middle School

Tarryn Gilbert, Science, Joplin High School

Stay tuned for our district Teacher of the Year winner announcement in early April!