The Colorado Department of Education finished its list of eight finalists for the 2027 Colorado Teacher of the Year on Sept. 11, and two of the three newest names teach in the Denver metro area. Alex Adkisson of Green Mountain High School in Lakewood teaches math, construction trades and business, and has 12 years in the classroom; CDE notes he previously won the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools $100,000 Teaching Grand Prize in 2023. Shandra Botello of Merrill Middle School in Denver teaches language arts and AVID and has 14 years of experience. The third new finalist, Melissa Corwin, teaches dual-language humanities at Summit High School in Breckenridge.
The numbers behind the honor: 297 teachers from 76 districts applied this year, 21 were named semifinalists in June, and eight made the final round. Each finalist received a $1,000 award from CDE and the Boettcher Foundation, and each finalist’s school received $500. The winner, who receives $10,000 and represents Colorado in the National Teacher of the Year program, will be announced in October.
What the commissioner said
In the release, Commissioner Susana Cordova said Adkisson helps students see the connection between what they are learning in school and what they may choose to do with that knowledge in the future, and of Botello, that great teachers have an impact not only on the students in front of them but on the educators around them. For a shop-and-business teacher in Jeffco and a middle-school reading teacher in Denver, that is about as good as a citation gets.
Why it matters here
Construction trades and business classes at a Lakewood high school, and AVID (a college-readiness program) at a Denver middle school, are the kind of teaching that rarely makes headlines. This fall both are one vote from a statewide title. If your kids are in either building, it is a good week to say thank you.
More like this: Teachers · Find the Good · Lakewood · Denver · Fort Collins fourth graders win a statewide philanthropy award
