Feature Story

As Teacher Appreciation Week begins to wrap up, the members of the 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year team wanted to show their appreciation for the educators who inspire them to be better teachers.  

Members of the 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year team have been celebrating #LoveTeachingWeek, Feb. 14-21, in videos posted on the Kansas State Department of Education’s social media channels.

This special week, started by teachers in 2015, is a national grassroots campaign to celebrate teaching, leading and learning in a way that unites and invigorates educators.

The team members, along with Liz Anstine, 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year, share their stories about why they chose the profession and how their students inspire them every day.

Literacy, early childhood, technology and the importance of educators were a few of the aspects of the teaching profession the 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year team highlighted when they appeared before a joint meeting of the Kansas House and Senate education committees this week. 

Liz Anstine, the 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year and business teacher at Leavenworth High School, Leavenworth USD 453, told the legislators the challenges educators have endured in recent years “have been immense but so has the dedication of our teachers.” 

“Unless you’ve stood in a classroom recently, it’s hard to grasp the extraordinary passion, resilience and tireless effort educators pour into their students daily,” she said. “The commitment of many teachers, especially those who are with me here today, is nothing short of heroic.” 

The week of Nov. 18-22 is American Education Week, a time to celebrate the positive impact of public schools across the U.S. So, why is now an important time to be a teacher? That question was asked recently of several members of the new 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year (KTOY) team.  

Already a life-long advocate of teachers and the teaching profession, Liz Anstine knew when her name was called as the 2025 Kansas Teacher of the Year, the real work was about to begin.  

“At that moment, I thought, ‘Well, here we go. I need to keep advocating.’” 

The Leavenworth High School business teacher was chosen from a field of eight regional finalists on Sept. 28, in Wichita.  

“I think I was picked for a reason,” Anstine said when reflecting on the moment when Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson and 2024 KTOY Taylor Bussinger announced she would be the next Kansas Teacher of the Year. “I didn’t come from privilege. I wasn’t always recognized even when I worked hard. I’ve never had this experience, not even in the corporate world.”