If you know an outstanding Iowa teacher, we want to hear from you! The Iowa Department of Education is now accepting nominations for the 2026 Iowa Teacher of the Year through March 7.
Anyone, including fellow educator colleagues, administrators, students and their parents, association or organization members and other community partners, can submit a nomination form for an exceptional K-12 teacher who is making an impact in an Iowa school. Self-nominations and nominations by a teacher’s family are not accepted at this time.
Nominees must be a career teacher who holds a valid Iowa teaching license and is currently employed by a public school district or accredited non-public school in Iowa.
Nominated teachers will be invited to submit an application and additional information to the Department for further consideration. Each nomination will be reviewed by a selection committee, and nine finalists representing teachers from all regions of the state will be named as Regional Teachers of the Year. Through an interview process with education leaders, one of the Regional Teachers of the Year will be selected to serve as the 2026 Iowa Teacher of the Year.
Established in 1958, the prestigious Iowa Teacher of the Year award recognizes a teacher who motivates, challenges and inspires excellence and takes teaching beyond textbooks and classrooms. The honored Iowa Teacher of the Year serves as an ambassador for the Iowa Department of Education and a liaison for elementary and secondary schools.
Melanie Bloom, a 16-year veteran agriculture educator from Sioux Central Community School District, was named as the Prairie Lakes Regional Teacher of the Year and will serve as the 2025 Iowa Teacher of the Year. The full list of the 2025 Regional Teachers of the Year and past Iowa Teacher of the Year recipients is available on the Department’s website.
For more information, visit the Iowa Teacher of the Year webpage or contact Stefanie Rosenberg Wager, Department administrative consultant, at stefanie.wager@iowa.gov.