When she was a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia years ago, Kristina Ferguson had a hard time figuring out what she wanted to do after college.

The Montgomery County graduate changed her major four times before graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in education in 2012.

“I love kids,” Ferguson said.

Now, Ferguson is enjoying an 11-year career as a teacher, including eight years at Montgomery City Elementary School. Recently, she earned her biggest award of her education career. She was voted the Montgomery County R-II District Teacher of the Year.

“It’s an amazing feeling to know that people see the dedication that you put into it and how much you care for your students,” Ferguson said.

Joining Ferguson as finalists for the award were Montgomery County High School social studies teacher Ben Creech, Montgomery County Middle School social studies teacher Colleen Jordan and Jonesburg Elementary School fifth-grade teacher Jenna Fitzgerald. She was picked for the award for the strong relationships she built with the teachers and students.

“(Assistant superintendent Dr. Jocelyn) Schluss, (MCE principal Jill) Jacob and a couple of other staff members came in and completely surprised me during my planning time,” said Ferguson, who was also nominated for Regional Teacher of the Year as part of the Missouri Teacher of the Year program. “I was not expecting it.”

The R-II School District started taking nominations for district teacher of the year in February. Each of the four school buildings in the district select a teacher of the year. The building winners were announced in March and qualified as candidates for district teacher of the year.

Ferguson graduated from MCHS in 2004. After graduating from Mizzou, she worked as a teacher at New Franklin for one year before being hired by the R-II School District the following year. Ferguson worked at Jonesburg Elementary for two years before heading to MCE.

Ferguson said she was thrilled to work at a school district where she was a student for most of her life.

“It took some getting used to having students of the parents, who were people I went to school with,” Ferguson said. “But it’s been a lot of fun to be back and know everyone who works in the community that you grew up in.”

Ferguson teaches second grade at MCE. She has been teaching second grade for most of her career.

“They still love their teachers in second grade,” said Ferguson, whose mother and grandmother worked in the education field. “They still love to come to school. They’re still sweet and innocent, but yet they’re independent in some aspects. They can do stuff on their own as well.”

Ferguson said she can’t believe that the school year is almost coming to a close. Next year, she will be working as a Title I reading teacher.

“It’s exciting to think about all of the things that you’ve done in a year and to look forward to summertime,” Ferguson said. “But then, you think about the next year coming because these kids are moving on.”