Idaho Teacher of the Year Heidi Cornell emphasizes love, leadership and professional learning communities

Heidi Cornell, named Idaho Teacher of the Year for 2025 and a third-grade teacher at Orchards Elementary in Lewiston, addressed the Senate Education Committee on how classroom culture, teacher leadership and professional learning communities shape student outcomes.

Cornell opened with a personal mission: "My mission is that you feel deeply loved when you are with me," she said, adding that the commitment extends to "the easy to love, the unlovable, and the ones who disagree with me." She said that mission guides her teaching and her efforts to build student voice and leadership.

Why it matters: Cornell described classroom and schoolwide practices — including a districtwide shift to professional learning communities — that her team says have helped teachers define essential learning, create student-friendly learning targets, write and analyze common formative assessments, and plan interventions and enrichment.

Cornell said she left the classroom temporarily to serve as a PLC lead and returned after two years; the work included developing essentials, levels of proficiency and collaborative interventions. "We know better than ever where every student is at and what every student needs, and we are able to collaborate more effectively and efficiently to help all students learn and lead," she said.

She described specific classroom practices that connect learning to community: a "coins for our cause" unit where third graders research local nonprofits and write persuasive speeches; a career-talk series where parents describe occupations; and ongoing partnerships with Lewis-Clark State College and the University of Idaho that bring interns into the classroom.

Cornell told the committee that resources teachers need include money, time and people, and she emphasized that PLC time matters: her school devotes about 90 minutes per week for PLC work. She also thanked statewide goals such as the emphasis on third-grade reading and on-grade-level math, saying PLCs help operationalize those goals.

Committee members congratulated Cornell and asked about teacher-leader certification and PLC structures; she said leadership stipends and allocations have varied by district and that Lewiston had used targeted leadership funding in the past.

Ending: Cornell closed by urging continued investment in time and staffing to sustain PLC work and student supports; she then stood for questions from the committee.