Middle School Mathematics Teacher Phyllis Hoyt has been named the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers 2011 Outstanding Middle School Teacher of the Year. The award goes to someone who "goes beyond the regular classroom curriculum and challenges and expands the students' exposure to math and/or science." The award was presented at the KSPE convention in Wichita late last month.

Mrs. Hoyt is thrilled! "They give many awards to engineers," she says, "but there were only two awards given to non-engineers - one middle school teacher and one high school teacher. I am very impressed that they choose to honor teachers. They are acknowledging the important role that teachers play in preparing our future engineers." 

Mrs. Hoyt was recognized for her contribution to the field of engineering through her involvement in the MATHCOUNTS program. The students who are involved with MATHCOUNTS, called Mathletes, meet with her during their elective class once a week and before school two days a week.

Mrs. Hoyt has been actively involved in MATHCOUNTS for 27 years. She has taken her team to the state competition for all but four of those years. In each of those state competitions except one she has had at least one individual finish in the top ten, or brought home a team trophy. She has coached a team that has progressed to the national competition six times, twice serving as the Kansas state team coach. Though our school is small, Mrs. Hoyt and her students are consistently able to compete against schools with enrollment in the hundreds.
   

The Kansas Outstanding Middle School Teacher of the Year Award completes an award trifecta for Mrs. Hoyt. In February, she was named Teacher of the Year by the Topeka Chapter of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers. That same week, she was named MATHCOUNTS Coach of the Week - a national award made all the more rewarding for Mrs. Hoyt because she was nominated by two of her students.

Congratulations, Mrs. Hoyt. We are very proud of you! If you would like to send Mrs. Hoyt a message, you may e-mail her at phoyt@topekacollegiate.org.