ROCK SPRINGS — The gesture is unprecedented, but Sweetwater County School District No. 1 will recognize its entire faculty districtwide as Teachers of the Year for the 2020-2021 school year.

Superintendent Kelly McGovern made the announcement during the Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month. School districts statewide generally nominate just one teacher for the top educator honor. But McGovern said every teacher faced possibly one the most difficult challenges they will ever experience in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

McGovern said SCSD No. 1 faculty demonstrated perseverance, despite many obstacles, to provide an education to students.

In a year with many new challenges, trials, and uncertainty, how do we recognize only ONE teacher this year when our entire professional and classified staff all contributed so much to providing safe in-person instruction? Therefore, the District won’t be sending one name forward; we would like to do something different this year.

Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Superintendent Kelly McGovern

“Their actions are beyond measure and we honor them with the utmost admiration,” McGovern said. “In the face of the myriad of challenges, our teachers rose quickly to meet the obstacles of the COVID-19 Pandemic and simply worked harder.”

Teachers had to adjust to a number of different scenarios like teaching from home, schooling students both in person and online, and closely monitoring state health orders requiring kids to wear masks in school.

“They demonstrated leadership and innovation in learning new technology swiftly and efficiently to give their students instruction and maintain a connection to the classroom, even when separation was required,” McGovern said.

Congratulations to all of the Teachers in Sweetwater County School District Number One as our Teachers of the Year!