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The 2020 Teacher of the Year ceremony was held at the State Fair Park in Oklahoma City on Tuesday.

Cassandra Stauder has been an educator for 12 years and completed one year as a science teacher at Dewey High School last year. She was one of the 12 finalists for the 2020 Teacher of the Year honors, and said she believes she is a defender of education when she took the stage.

This is because Stauder has placed great value in serving, protecting and advocating for her students. She views teaching as more than just a job. As a minister' wife and an adoptive parents of two children as well, she believes her life's purpose is to build up and inspire the next generation.

As she continues to strive and teach the current generation of young people, Stauder said she has realized that teaching is more than just what you know. It is about how much you care as well. In her experience of working with a high percentage of students that deal with backgrounds of violence, poverty and trauma, she has found that they will be receptive to what she is teaching them if they know that she is in their corner.

Stauder added that we need to continue to transform our schools into places that students long to come, because supporting education leads to a thriving economy. She said teaching can be challenging but it is the work of the heart, that her students continue to inspire her, and that she is proud to be an Oklahoma educator.

Although the speech was moving and Stauder put a lot of effort into her campaign, the 2020 Teacher of the Year honors went to Deer Creek Middle School's English teacher Jena Nelson.

Starting July 1st, 2020, Nelson will assume full-time Teacher of the Year duties. Those duties include speaking engagements and serving as Oklahoma's ambassador by encouraging others to enter or remain in the teaching profession.

Becky Oglesby of Yukon is the 2019 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year. She will continue to tour the state until Nelson take over next July.

(Top right photo courtesy: Dewey Schools; below Jena Nelson pictured left, Stauder pictured right)