Superintendent Cornsworth and Superintendent Shane Farnsworth joined school staff in a classroom visit to present Alpine School District’s Accent on Excellence awards to classroom teachers and a support professional, district officials announced during the visit.

The awards recognized several employees for classroom engagement and student support. “We’re here to honor Mrs. Perkins as our Accent on Excellence teacher, so congratulations,” Superintendent Cornsworth said during the visit, and students and staff spoke in praise of the honorees’ classroom engagement, empathy and efforts to meet students where they are.

District presenters told students the program spotlights a small number of teachers from the district’s larger workforce. “Every year, we nominate just a few of our teachers — we have thousands of teachers in Alpine School District — a few of our teachers as our Accent on Excellence Award winners,” a presenter said. The recipients singled out in the visit included Mrs. Perkins (classroom teacher), Mr. Westbrook (teacher), Mrs. Christiansen (support professional who helps create the lunchroom environment) and Miss Ecker (teacher and director who also works on musicals and holds a STEAM endorsement), and other staff members were publicly thanked.

Students offered short testimonials to the honorees. One student said of Mr. Westbrook, “He explains it very well. His lessons are fun and exciting,” and another told the visitors that a teacher “always helps me with my work.” Presenters also described classroom practices praised by colleagues and students, such as tailoring instruction to accelerate students or support at‑risk learners, and sustaining student engagement in experiments and hands‑on classes such as woodshop.

The event was celebratory and informational; no board actions, votes or policy changes were proposed or taken during the visit. District leaders encouraged students to recognize staff contributions and thanked the honorees for their work.

Less formal comments during the visit included references to recipients’ personal attributes and extracurricular contributions; presenters and students repeatedly emphasized kindness, fairness and high expectations as reasons for the awards.