Whittier Middle School teacher named ‘Teacher of the Year’

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - The Sioux Falls School District announced Monday night Ann Robertson as the 2021 Teacher of the Year. Robertson is the Native American Connections teacher at Whittier Middle School. She’s in her 14th year as a teacher with the Sioux Falls School District and was a substitute teacher for 12 years before that.

This year, there were 67 teachers nominated for the award. Seven were finalists. The following is the criteria to nominate someone for Teacher of the Year:

-Commitment to lifelong learning

-Effectiveness in meeting students’ needs

-Impact on student achievement

-Effectiveness of home-school cooperation

-Community involvement to promote school-community relations

People who nominated Robertson for the award said she wrote the Native American Studies curriculum for the middle and high schools in the district. One person wrote, “her classroom is always filled with positive energy.”

For winning the award, Robertson received a check for $4,000 from Vern Eide Motorcars.