High school Social Studies teacher Greg Kester of Potosi, Missouri, has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Missouri NEA

Many outstanding classroom teachers have garnered recognition for their work with young people. One of these is Greg Kester, a high school Social Studies teacher from Missouri. He has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Greg teaches at Potosi High School located in Potosi, Missouri. There he instructs courses in American History, Western Civilizations, American Political Systems, Psychology, and Sociology. He also serves as the Social Studies Department Chair. In addition, he serves as the faculty sponsor of Future Teachers of America, coaches the Scholar Bowl, and is the cadet teaching coordinator.

In addition to the work at the high school, each semester Greg teaches a college-level course in Foundations of Education in a Diverse Society, as well as an accompanying course in field experience.

Greg’s honor as the 2024 Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Greg has earned. In 2023, the Missouri Veterans of Foreign Wars named him the Missouri High School Teacher of the Year. That same year, the Missouri State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution named him Missouri’s Outstanding Teacher of American History. In addition to these awards, Greg is a member of the Missouri National Education Association and past president of the association’s Potosi chapter.

“Relationships are my greatest accomplishments as an educator,” declares Greg. “Students aren’t data points,” he continues. “Standardized test scores are not always reflections of what was taught; they are sometimes the reflection of what a young person had to overcome and still succeed. That is what I have learned in almost three decades of teaching public school in rural Missouri,” he concludes.

Greg earned his Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies Education at Southeast Missouri State University in 1995. He earned a Master’s degree in history from Southeast Missouri State University in 2001, and he completed graduate courses in school and community counseling at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, from 2010-2013 so he could qualify to teach psychology, sociology, and education classes. His career as an educator spans 28 years.