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Teachers named state semi-finalists

By Staff Reports - | Sep 23, 2009

The Kansas Department of Education recognized two Tonganoxie School District teachers as teacher of the year semifinalists Sunday in Topeka.

Cheta Mark and David Wahlgren were recognized as Region 2 semi-finalists for the 2010 Kansas Teacher of the Year award.

Mark has been teaching for 35 years overall and currently teaches at the fifth-grade level at Tonganoxie Middle School. Wahlgren has taught for 40 years and currently is a seventh-grade science teacher at TMS.

Mark also was one of three semi-finalists for Kansas Region 2 Elementary Teacher of the Year.

Beth Slawson, a first-grade reading teacher at Cottonwood Elementary School in Paola and Arthur R. Commons, high school science teacher at Baxter Springs High School were Region 2 finalists. Each received a $2,000 cash award from Security Benefit, a major partner in the Kansas Teacher of the Year program.

Other semifinalists were from Manhattan, Topeka and Paola. Each semi-finalist received a red marble apple from The Master Teacher in Manhattan.

Statewide, 91 educators were nominated for teacher of the year distinction. Panels of teachers, education administrators and higher education representatives selected semi-finalists in four regions and then a finalist from each region at the elementary and secondary levels.

Teachers of the year will be announced during a Nov. 21 ceremony in Wichita.