Bourne, Chandler are Carson City nominees for Nevada Teacher of the Year

The Carson City School District has announced Christina Bourne and Jennifer Chandler have been nominated and will have the opportunity to compete for “Nevada State Teacher of the Year.”

The two were nominated because both have earned accreditations as National Board Certified Teachers. The winner and finalists of the state recognition will be announced in August.

To be eligible, Bourne and Chandler needed to be nominated by colleagues. Once nominated, they were eligible and invited to submit an application. This application required three letters of recommendation: one from the site administrator, one from a parent or student and one from a colleague. The state selection committee also required copies of each teachers’ previous evaluations. The application involves a number of essay style answers to questions about the applicant's teaching and views on issues facing education.

After all of the applications were received, the state selection committee narrowed the field. Those who moved forward had phone interviews followed by face-to-face (Zoom) interviews and later a five- to seven-minute keynote address about “how teacher leadership can be leveraged to retain high quality educators in Nevada.” Bourne and Chandler have advanced to the final stage of the process.

The mission of the Nevada Teacher of the Year program is to celebrate excellence and strengthen the teaching force by honoring and recognizing exceptional teachers on a school, district, state and national level. Being named Nevada Teacher of the Year is not only an award, but also an honor – one that comes with an enormous responsibility: that of representing the entire profession in Nevada.

The 2021 Nevada Teacher of the Year will make connections with schools, colleges, universities, organizations related to education, the legislature and stakeholders around the state to elevate teachers, classrooms and the teaching profession. They are an educational leader, a mentor and an ambassador. As a spokesperson for Nevada’s roughly 27,000 educators, the Teacher of the Year is a resource on the state of education in Nevada.