Kate Healy got a big surprise when she walked into the Montgomery County Middle School gymnasium on the afternoon of April 1.

At first, the MCHS sixth-grade language arts teacher thought she was going to play dodgeball with the students. But she found out that she was selected as the 2022 Montgomery County R-II School District Teacher of the Year.

“It’s a really amazing honor,” Healy said. “I love my job. I love my kids and I’m really proud to be part of this community. I was born and raised here. To get the honor of being teacher of the year means a lot to me.”

Healy received a nice round of applause in front of her family members and numerous students. Her daughter Adelaide showed a sign that said, “It’s no joke. My mom’s the best!”

“I thought that was a nice touch since it was April Fool’s Day,” Healy said.

Healy defeated three other candidates for the award. They were Joe Klekamp of Montgomery County High School, Kim Clements of Montgomery City Elementary School and Rhonda Vicente of Jonesburg Elementary School. With the win, Healy earned a nomination for the Missouri Regional Teacher of the Year award.

“Our district is blessed to have really amazing teachers,” Healy said. “The others I was up against do great things. They’re building great things for the kids and the community. They’re incredibly hard working and dedicated people as well. It’s a huge honor to be selected as the one who gets to represent our district going forward.”

The R-II School District began taking teacher of the year nominations in February. Winners in each of the four schools were selected in early March, giving them an opportunity to win the district teacher of the year honor.

Healy said she was surprised that she was selected as MCMS’ teacher of the year.

“I was teaching and they came in and told me that I won the teacher of the year for the middle school,” Healy said. “That itself is a huge honor because I work with some really great people in this building and in this district.”

Healy has been teaching for 13 years. She joined the R-II school district staff in 2011. She said the best part of working at MCMS is spending every day with her students.

“I love that English language arts is something that you can hook all kids into,” Healy said. “You can always find something that they can always read about or write about. It’s a life skill that they need. I love teaching in general because I love the kids. In middle school, no days are ever the same. There is always a surprise in it.”