WILLCOX, AZ — A rural Arizona teacher is taking home the Arizona Educational Foundations' biggest prize.
Over the weekend, Willcox High School chemistry teacher Ty White was named the state's teacher of the year.
“I don’t even know who nominated me at this point, I don’t know how I got here but this is amazing,” said White with a chuckle.
As humble as he is, his work speaks for itself. What he’s doing inside the classroom is just a small fraction of his impact.
“I’ve got kids doing the chief science officer leadership program, I’ve got kids doing science fair, I’ve got kids doing racing the sun, building solar-powered go-carts,” said White. “Most every school really sets out to create programs that reflect their schools' culture.”
Mr. White knows the responsibility he's been tasked with because rural school systems like his generally come with fewer resources. That’s where his hustle really pays off.
Leading the Science Club, the GATE Club, and the Knowledge Bowl, White is also a founding board member of InSimEd, a non-profit that creates "Industry Simulation" Challenges, affiliated with Aerospace Education Corporation (AEC).
As a non-profit, they also assist underserved and underrepresented students to participate in and travel to competitions.
“For example, we will be renting the biosphere this year, my goal working with SciTech, we’re gonna fill every casita up with high schoolers and they’re going to work with actual aerospace engineers to plan space habitats,” explained White.
Projects and opportunities pave the way for his students to achieve success and build confidence so there is no limit to what they can accomplish.
“This kind of helps show them and show the world that we’re doing big things out here,” said White.
“He is my favorite teacher ever, there’s no one better for this award,” said Dakota Finley, a former student. She also says Mr. White's dedication to his student knows no bounds.
“When I first started at the school, there really weren’t any clubs or anything. He started all of them for the most part,” said Finley. “He spends so much time with his students and I’m not sure how he has a family outside of school cause I’m like you’re always here, you’re always having a student over and working on a project and his wife is absolutely amazing in supporting him.”
Mr. White's childhood dreams never really included becoming a teacher but now, 16 years later, he’s one of the best in the nation.
“And the truth is, I think there’s a million other teachers like me out there,” said White.
As Arizona Teacher of the Year, Mr. White will now represent the state for the national award later this year.
