Teacher of the Year Awards for Yuma County

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Multiple teachers across Yuma County were given awards to highlight their incredible work in education.

R. Pete Woodard Junior High had one of its teachers, Michaela Hernandez, take home the Junior High/Middle School Teacher of the Year Award.

"Winning middle school teacher of the year, it evoked any emotions. I felt joy, pride, gratitude, it was a true recognition of my hard work and passion in the education field," Hernandez spoke.

Hernandez has been in education for four years and is a social studies and student council teacher.

The Teacher of the Year program is a chance to shine the spotlight on her and other current and former teachers who give so much to their students.

While the main prize was Teacher of the Year, which went to Crystal Trueluck, there were plenty of other awards given out to highlight other educators. 

"We know our why and we know why we started in this profession but being appreciated really gives us more energy and more fuel to keep going," said Marsha Gomez, the Intermediate/Special Area Category winner.

Teacher of the Year Crystal Trueluck feels so special when being honored at events like the one on Thursday night.

"Somebody had said that teachers don’t go into it for the accolades and so just even an event like this hat gives us that recognition for the hard work we do and our dedication is just such an amazing feeling," Trueluck expressed.

Some other notable winners were Jessica Cantu for the primary category and Hilary Brown for the high school category.