[Source: Jeff Commings, Arizona Daily Star] — Kristin Bourguet stood on the stage, wearing a beauty-pageant smile as she endured the agonizing wait until the name of the state’s top teacher was revealed. “It just kept going on and on and on,” Bourguet said Thursday of the lengthy presentation at the Arizona Educational Foundation’s annual ceremony honoring the finalists for Arizona Teacher of the Year. While the wait was torture, the events that followed were a “whirlwind” for Bourguet. “I saw an envelope being opened, my first name being said and mother almost passing out next to me, saying my name over and over,” said Bourguet, who was named the 23rd Arizona Teacher of the Year.
After that, it was all hugs and handshakes from other notable educators in the state. “It was so nice to feel positive energy when they were talking about education, which you don’t get all the time,” she said in a phone call from Scottsdale, where the event was held. Bourguet, a 29-year-old science teacher at Marana High School, was one of three Tucson teachers named as finalists for the award. The other teachers were Laurie Burrell of Wilson K-8 School and Maime Spillane of Prince Elementary School. [Note: To read the full article, click here.]