Middle school teacher Jessica May has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: University of Northern Colorado

Congratulations to middle school teacher Jessica May of Colorado. She has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Jessica teaches courses in family and consumer sciences at Turner Middle School in Berthoud, Colorado. Her curriculum is focused not only on cooking and sewing, but also on self-care, social emotional learning, life skills (including personal finances), child development, and school to career.

In her classroom, this exemplary teacher wants to ensure what she’s teaching applies to the lives of her students. “Make your content connect to the real world or why are we teaching it,” she advises. “They’re writing, they’re researching, they’re budgeting,” describes Jessica. “They’re going to be writing to the community to ask for donations, money to buy these things (to renovate the old classroom) and then to help them paint and replace and all kinds of stuff,” she continued.

Jessica earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences with an emphasis in Elementary Education from the University of Northern Colorado in 1996. She earned her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Colorado State University in 2018. Her career as an educator spans 21 years.

For her work in the classroom, Jessica has garnered many awards. She earned her district’s Commitment to Excellence award in 2016; the Conrad Ball Middle School’s New to the Nest Teacher of the Year in 2019; the Thompson Education Foundation’s Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2020; and Rotary Teacher of the Month in 2021.

Jessica’s selection to recognize her as an exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable, and skilled K-12 classroom teacher. Next, she will be honored at a special ceremony at the White House and get the opportunity to go to NASA’s Space Camp. She will also become a member of the Colorado Education Commissioner’s Teacher Cabinet.