![\"HSD](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/HSD-Teacher-of-the-Yearpg-41-470x307.jpg?resize=470%2C307\" "\\"HSD")
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TEACHER OF THE YEAR:<\/strong> The Hazelwood School District named Michael Koester of Hazelwood Central High School as the 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year. Koester, a social studies teacher, is a graduate of the District and has been teaching since August 2000. District leaders surprised Koester with the announcement during a meeting. From left to right: Dr. Grayling Tobias, assistant superintendent, school accountability; Supt. Steve Price, Koester,\u00a0 Darrell Strong, principal, Hazelwood Central High School.<\/p>\n The Hazelwood School District named Michael Koester of Hazelwood Central High School as the Teacher of the Year for 2010-2011.<\/p>\n Koester, who teaches social studies, was in a meeting with colleagues when he was surprised by Supt. Steve Price, along with Paula Brown, federal programs coordinator and Grayling Tobias, assistant superintendent for school accountability. Principal Darrell Strong asked Koester to stand as the announcement was made.<\/p>\n In humble fashion, Koester acknowledged the honor while giving kudos to his colleagues for their support. He will be honored at the annual Hazelwood Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Founders\u2019 Day Celebration on February 3; all HSD building Teacher of the Year and Support Staff of the Year winners will be recognized at the event.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very surprised,\u201d Koester said. \u201cI was happy to have just been a finalist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeing named District Teacher of the Year is beyond all belief, especially coming from the District as a student. Coming back here to teach is fun, and this is a great honor,\u201d he said. He is a 1995 graduate of Hazelwood Central High and attended Lusher Elementary and Hazelwood Junior High schools.<\/p>\n Koester began teaching in the District in August 2000. He has experience teaching advanced placement history courses, college preparatory history courses, economics and geography. In 2005, he was named an Emerson Excellence in Teaching nominee.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to build relationships with kids before I can teach them. I do that by getting to know the students as individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs Teacher of the Year, it\u2019s my responsibility to be a model teacher for people in my building and in the district,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Again, with a humble spirit, Koester said, \u201cI\u2019m one of many great teachers at Hazelwood Central and in the District itself. I don\u2019t think I should be treated any differently than other hard working teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n His wife, Anna, teaches Spanish at Hazelwood Central High. In 2009, she was the school\u2019s Teacher of the Year winner and a runner-up for the District award.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is pretty cool for the family,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Founders\u2019 Day selection committee includes administrators, teachers, principals, coordinators, Hazelwood National Education Association (HNEA) and PTA members, and a high school senior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" TEACHER OF THE YEAR: The Hazelwood School District named Michael Koester of Hazelwood Central High School as the 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year. Koester, a social studies teacher, is a graduate of the District and has been teaching since August 2000. District leaders surprised Koester with the announcement during a meeting. From left to right: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n