Lynette Stant, a 3rd grade teacher at Salt River Elementary in the Salt River Schools district is the Arizona Educational Foundation's 2020 Arizona Teacher of the Year.
Stant, a fifteen-year veteran teacher, is the first teacher working in a Bureau of Indian Education school to be named an Arizona Teacher of the Year, and the first Native teacher to be chosen.
"I became a teacher because I don't ever want Native American students to feel they are not prepared to meet the challenges of college," says Stant. "Providing equitable learning opportunities in an environment that respects and honors Native American culture is essential."
Stant grew up on the Navajo reservation, her parents attended boarding schools and spoke the Native language, and she was a first-generation college student.
She said that her time as a student in the Tuba City Unified School District served as a road map for her teaching philosophy: Schools should be a reflection of a student's culture and family.
"I never felt like an outsider," Stant said. "Our school district did its best at making sure students sought out opportunities that were outside of our community."
"What I bring to the classroom is an understanding of the historical trauma that education has played in the lives of Native Americans," Stant said. "Although I can't change the past, I can affect the future. I am a mirror reflection of my students. When a student walks into my classroom, they know that when they leave at the end of the day, they remain in my heart. The legacy I want them to build for themselves is that they are deserving of the best education possible."
Stant holds a master's degree in Education from Grand Canyon University, and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State University. She is a Gates Millennium Scholar. In addition to leading her grade level team, she mentors new teachers, and serves as a cooperating teacher for future educators.
Stant intends to spend her year as an Arizona Teacher of the Year advocating for equity in schools. "Every student, no matter their background or learning ability, deserves an equitable education. Not just those that come to school prepared with a backpack and a pencil box full of writing utensils, says Stant. "We must dedicate ourselves to the kids who need us the most, the ones with no backpacks but who have eyes filled with belief that education will change the course of their lives."
As Arizona's Teacher of the Year, Stant becomes a candidate for National Teacher of the Year. She will receive $15,000 from the Arizona Educational Foundation as well as a trip to the White House to meet the U.S. President, and will spend a week at International Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala. She will also receive a classroom makeover.
The Teacher of the Year program is the premier event of the Arizona Educational Foundation, a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to spotlighting the exceptional work of public schools.
"It is not a secret that education of Native peoples is one drenched in historical trauma," Stant said when she accepted the award. "As a Navajo woman, teaching in a Native American school, teaching Native American students, my goal is to change that narrative."
