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Third‑grade teacher Heidi Cornell named 2025 Idaho Teacher of the Year, emphasizes love and professional learning communities
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Summary
Heidi Cornell, a third‑grade teacher at Orchards Elementary in Lewiston, was introduced to the House Committee on Education as Idaho’s 2025 Teacher of the Year; she described her classroom mission and the school’s professional learning community work.
Debbie Critchfield, Idaho’s superintendent of public instruction, introduced Heidi Cornell to the House Committee on Education as Idaho’s 2025 Teacher of the Year. "We go through a nomination process where a student, a teacher, a community member, an administrator, anyone in the state is welcome and invited to nominate a teacher," Critchfield said. She noted the award includes private funding from CapEd as an honor unrelated to tax dollars.
Heidi Cornell, a third‑grade teacher at Orchards Elementary School in the Lewiston School District, told the committee her mission: "My mission is that you feel deeply loved when you are with me." Cornell described leading her school’s transition to a professional learning community (PLC), work she said led teams to identify essential learning targets, common formative assessments and strategies for intervention and enrichment. She described classroom units that connect students to the community, including a "Coins for a Cause" unit where third graders research local nonprofits and write persuasive speeches to support them.
Committee members asked Cornell about early‑grade preparedness and programs used in her school. When Chairman Hawkins asked whether kindergarten standards are too high and whether students are arriving at third grade without basics, Cornell replied that PLC work helps teachers know "where every student is" and to provide targeted intervention, adding that she had taught first through third grades and found PLCs helped teams address student needs.
Representative Clow asked about the Leader in Me program; Cornell said her school implemented it through a grant years earlier, that ongoing costs later limited full implementation, but that elements of the program and leadership practices remain in use. Representative Mathias and others praised the presentation and the committee gave Cornell an ovation.
The committee encouraged Cornell and other practicing educators to return for future discussions. No formal committee action was required for the presentation.
