OACOMA - Beth Kaltsulas has been named the 2017 South Dakota Teacher of the Year.
Kaltsulas, a teacher from the Yankton School District, was given the title Thursday night during a banquet at the Cedar Shore Conference Center in Oacoma.
Kaltsulas, who has taught in the school district for 30 years, teaches sixth grade math at the Yankton Middle School. As the state's teacher of the year, Kaltsulas received a $5,000 cash award and a $1,000 honorarium from the S.D. Board of Regents to present a series of professional development seminars for aspiring teachers.
Kaltsulas was one of five candidates competing for the state award, including Mitchell School District's Cindy Gerlach. Gerlach, who recently entered her ninth year working in the district, teaches culinary arts for the Mitchell High School at the Mitchell Career & Technical Education Academy focusing on culinary, nutrition and dietetics.
Other candidates included Tina England, Stanley County School District; Velda Schneider, Chester Area School District; and Aimee Wagner, Leola School District.
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To reach this point, the teachers first had to win district and regional teacher of the year awards, respectively. The state is split into five regions for the Teacher of the Year regional awards and the winner of each region moved on to the state award.
Now, Kaltsulas will compete for the 2017 National Teacher of the Year award, which will be announced during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. this spring.
