A high school engineering teacher won top honors from Springfield Public Schools.
Betsy Cannella, who teaches industrial technology at Kickapoo High School, was named as the SPS Teacher of the Year for 2024-25. The award was announced April 19 at the Celebrate SPS banquet, hosted by Foundation for Springfield Public Schools.
Being named Teacher of the Year means Cannella will advance to a regional competition held by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Regional winners take part in the department’s Missouri State Teacher of the Year competition.
“I get to teach, I get to come to school every day and do what I love,” Cannella said during Friday’s banquet, according to SPS’ Facebook page. “What a job.”
Cannella joined Springfield Public Schools in 2008 teaching gifted education. Before joining Kickapoo’s staff, she taught at Glendale High School, and has educated students in art, physical education and science. She has also been a coach for tennis, robotics and softball teams.
She works to build interactive, hands-on classrooms where students can approach lessons in several different ways, which accommodates different types of learners.
“Students of all types can find success in my classroom and hone their skills across various disciplines,” she said. “There is limitless potential for innovation and rigor, benefitting both students and teachers alike.”
Cannella was honored along three other finalists: Julie Buerke, a vocal music teacher at Fremont Elementary; Alicia Johnson, a first grade teacher at Twain Elementary; and Laurie Macy, a special education teacher at Pipkin Middle School.
More than 275 nominations were made for this year’s award, collected from students, parents, co-workers or supervisors. To be eligible, teachers must have four years of teaching experience in the Springfield district.
Nominated teachers were asked to respond to a question from the selection committee, comprised of past Teacher of the Year winners, school district leaders, staff members from the SPS communications department, Springfield NEA and foundation members, according to information from SPS. The question dealt with what each candidate felt was their greatest accomplishment as a teacher.
The four finalists were interviewed by the committee as part of its final selection process.
During the event, Drew Irwin was named Springfield's Rookie Teacher of the Year. Irwin is a fourth grade teacher at Mark Twain Elementary, a school where his oldest son attended and his youngest has just started. He also worked his first practicum at that school.
