Award surprise to Triton teacher

Triton Science Teacher Allison Horejsi said she was “shocked” back in November when she learned she had been selected as Triton Public School’s Teacher of the Year.
Although she didn’t have to submit her name to the state Teacher of the Year process she decided she did want to go through the process for the experience but she did not expect it to go any farther than the local level.
She explained her educational philosophy, included her resume and teaching credentials. Listed her qualifications and degrees. Sent the selection committee newspaper clippings and five letters of recommendation.
But then the unexpected happened. Horejsi was notified last month that she had made the first cut and was named one of 30 semifinalists for Minnesota Teacher of the Year.
Now the process starts over again, this time with a video presentation of her philosophy of education.
But for the Hayfield High School graduate who teaches science to ninth through 12th graders at Triton High School it’s not about the Teacher of the Year Award, it’s about the students.
That educational philosophy she has had to explain is that “the most important thing is to teach with passion, enjoy what you do and see it as a calling and not a job.”
For Horejsi that means teaching Conceptual Physics to ninth graders, Environmental Science to students who are mostly juniors, Nature Studies to senior high school students and a freshmen transitions class that helps students make the adjustment to the high school.
She also is the founder and advisor for the EARTH extracurricular club at Triton. EARTH, she said, stands for Environmental Awareness and Responsibility at Triton High.
She is a class advisor and a prom advisor. She is also secretary for the teachers’ union, on the Crisis Management Team and the Continuing Education Committee.
Students involved in EARTH, she said, are responsible for recycling and composting at the school, conduct both a cell phone and clothing drive, have Earth Week and Earth Day activities for first and fourth graders and have adopted the high in front of the school.
Nature Studies is the only class she teaches that is not required and so it gives her more flexibility in what she teaches.  It’s a more project-based class, she said, and can be either individual or team oriented.
She tries to make the subject relatable to the kids, help t hem see the value in learning and understanding and also to make it fun.
Horejsi said she was always interested in science but as is often the case it was one teacher who encouraged her interest.
“I had an awesome high school biology teacher,” Horejsi said. The teacher was influential and female as well and also had a passion for her subject.
After graduating from Hayfield High School and the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point and doing her student teaching at Kasson, she came to Triton High School nine years ago.
She says she is happy at Triton and especially likes that all grade levels are in one building.
“For me as a teacher, I like having the high-schoolers work with the elementary kids,” she said.
In the transition class, she said, each freshman has a “reading buddy” in the elementary school that they meet with regularly and read. The elementary students and the high school students equally enjoy the interaction, she said.
Horejsi and her husband, Ben, an engineer at McNeilus Truck, and their two children live in Dodge County near Oslo. Their son is in kindergarten and their daughter in preschool. They discussed whether they should enroll the children in Hayfield or Kasson, but ultimately decided on open enrollment in the Triton district.
Her next project for the Teacher of the Year competition is to make a two to three minute video explaining again her education philosophy.
At the end of this month the 10 finalists for Teacher of the Year will be announced and if she makes that cut she will move on to a round of personal interviews.
The Minnesota Teacher of the Year will be announced in May.
Whether she advances any further or not, “I’m just honored to get this far,” she said.