The Teachers of The Year All Have One Thing in Common: They All Have a Long List of Other Teachers That They Would Have Voted For
The KHS teachers of the year, from left to right: BJ Arvin, Paula Kenney, Rachel Monday, and Kelli Ochsenbein
December 14, 2021
As the year comes to an end, everyone is going back to the best and worst things that have happened and one way to reflect on the year is to celebrate. One of the best things for the Karns community to celebrate is the teachers. Every single teacher has worked hard to help their students grow and be better as a whole, but only a few teachers have outdone themselves and earned their title of “Teacher of the Year”. The staff of Karns High gets to vote on the best teachers every year, deciding who has performed the best and this year is no surprise. Teachers BJ Arvin, Rachel Monday, Paula Kenny, and Kelli Ochsenbein have all outdone themselves this year and are rightfully being recognized.
Social Studies teacher, BJ Arvin, has been teaching for fourteen years and has been at Karns for six years, and is the first teacher of the group. Arvin has worked hard this year by helping his students, getting grant money, and making the school a better place overall. Although this isn’t his first time getting this title, he is still just as proud of himself and his co-workers and Arvin feels that, “It is a nice award because my peers decide on it.” Because of the directed audience voting, the award feels even closer to him.
English Teacher, Rachel Monday, has been teaching at Karns for 16 years and even grew up and went to school here. This is her first time getting teacher of the year and she has most definitely worked hard to get her title. Monday has accomplished a lot this year by getting grants to help start our school’s very first podcast, “Dispatches From the Dam”, and started a new program where she is teaching an extra class, before school, for students in AP seminar. Because of everything on Monday’s plate, she has earned her title and is proud due to her feelings about how others feel, “…when other people have taken notice of how hard you’re working who also know how hard this job can be it means a whole lot.” This recognition of her efforts by her peers makes the award worth so much more.
Special Ed teacher, Paula Kenney, has been teaching for 16 years and has been at Karns for 3 years. Kenney is all over the school helping her students, so she is always seeing and interacting with teachers. Although Kenney is fairly new, this is the second year in a row she has won “Teacher of the Year”, so she has to be doing something right. Kenney loves this school and even goes on to say, “I wouldn’t go back.” By wanting to stay with the community and even being rewarded, it makes this a good year to celebrate all the good teachers that have won this year.
Government and politics teacher, Kelly Ochsenbein, has been teaching at Karns for 4 years. Ochsenbein is very fond of the Karns community, saying, “There are so many phenomenal teachers here in Karns.” The belief that the teachers here are very talented makes everything worth so much more to her. Although Ochsenbein can’t say why she thinks she won, it is very obvious. Having good relationships with students is one of the best ways teachers can connect and teach and that’s what makes Mrs. Ochsenbein such a great teacher.
This year has been a hassle with everything going on, and the teachers have made it worthwhile. All of the teachers that have won this year deserve so much and each one thinks every one of their peers deserves the same. Talking to all the teachers has sparked a realization that the teachers here are all united by the way they feel about their fellow teachers. The kindness and acknowledgment there is between teachers is so nice to be able to be surrounded by. All the teachers have been working together and have made Karns such a good place to attend.
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