Montezuma business teacher nominated as one of nine Iowa Regional Teachers of the Year

By J.O. Parker
 
       The Iowa Department of Education recently announced that a Montezuma High School teacher is one of nine first-ever Iowa Regional Teachers of the Year nominees to be selected from across the state of Iowa.
       Kevin Gartman, who teaches business courses to high school and middle school students at Montezuma, said it’s an honor to be nominated. He said the award is a whole lot more about the Montezuma district than it is about him.
     “After all, I've taught at Montezuma for all nine years of my teaching career and I am certainly not the same teacher now that I was when I began teaching,” noted Gartman. “I've learned about classroom management, improving rigor, student relationships, time management and organization, student motivation and drive through competitions, and more - all of which I've taken bits and pieces from my entire staff.”
      Gartman said he gets to witness teachers doing a great job around him each and every day at Montezuma, and that he gets to pick their brains and learn from them.
       “I try to incorporate more of what they're doing well into my classroom,” he said. “It's not about me – this honor is a reflection on our staff as a whole.”
     The Iowa Regional Teacher of the Year designation was establish this year by the Iowa Department of Education to celebrate excellence in the classroom from all corners of Iowa.
      “We recognize the expertise, commitment and care of each of Iowa’s inaugural 2025 Regional Teachers of the Year, and we thank them for choosing this honored profession, putting students at the center of all they do,” said Iowa Department of Education Director McKenzie Snow.
   From nominations submitted by educators, students, families and fellow Iowans, Kevin Gartman, Montezuma; Susie Stark, Cedar Rapids; Samantha Freeman, Mount Pleasant; Sarah Stephens, Creston; Blake Hammond, Des Moines; Alyssa Dalsing, Western Dubuque; Kaitlin Mahoney, Bettendorf; Beth Oolman, MOC-Floyd Valley; and Melanie Bloom, Sioux Central have been selected as Iowa’s 2025 Regional Teachers of the Year. Each of these teachers will now serve as finalists for the 2025 Iowa Teacher of the Year award, which will be announced later this year. 
      “With the support of educators across Iowa, we had the privilege of selecting nine teachers representing different grades and subjects, including elementary special education, middle school science and high school personal finance teachers among many other incredible educators,” said Snow.
      Gartman specializes in teaching personal finance. He holds a business education degree and a Master’s degree in educational leadership from the University of Northern Iowa. He has been recognized as a 2023 Distinguished Educator of Personal Finance and serves in the district as a lead teacher with a focus on school curriculum. He also coaches cross country and track. He is a leader in personal finance, having presented on how to teach personal finance concepts at the local, state and regional levels.
     “I've been passionate about teaching financial literacy ever since coming to Montezuma and I've been thankful for an administration that has supported me and has allowed me to teach three levels of personal finance, start competition teams surrounding personal finance, and the community has become more engaged as a result,” Garman said. “With the state's focus on career and technical education, student success beyond graduation, and personal finance, it just so happens that the things that our district has been high-performing in and ahead of the curve on, also happen to be state focus areas now as well.”
     “It all comes back to the students - I have students who work hard and are driven to be their best,” Gartman went on to say. “I am so thankful for the chance to teach and coach the students and athletes (at Montezuma) that I do.”
About Iowa Teacher of the Year
      Established in 1958, the prestigious Teacher of the Year award recognizes an Iowa teacher who advances student learning through evidence-based instruction, empowers students with multiple pathways to postsecondary success, learns from and invests in fellow educators and serves students in partnership with families. Last year, Ann Mincks, an English Language Learner educator from Des Moines Public Schools’ Herbert Hoover High School, was named as the 2024 Iowa Teacher of the Year. The Iowa Teacher of the Year serves as an ambassador for the Iowa Department of Education and a representative of and liaison for all Iowa educators.
     More information about the Regional Teachers of the Year and the Iowa Teacher of the Year process is available on the Iowa Department of Education website at https://educate.iowa.gov/pk-12/award-exchange-programs/iowa-teacher-year

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