The 2012 Teacher of the Year award was presented to Lindsey Porter at the Moniteau County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) annual awards dinner Tuesday, April 9, at the California United Church of Christ facility.
Porter, daughter of Kevin and Joan Hays, is a sixth grade teacher at California R-I School District. She is a 2003 CHS graduate. She attended Southwest Missouri State University for two years and finished at Lincoln University. Beginning teaching at California elementary in 2007, she then earned her Master of Education with eMINTs certification from LU. She started her own eMINTs classroom with the help of her professor and 10 donated computers.
Porter's favorite subjects to teach are math and science and the students make use of the computers and interactive whiteboard.
Porter "enjoys working with young children because she gets to view the world all over again through their young and eager eyes." She constantly learns from her pupils every day. She has worked with the SWCD poster contest since she started at California.
She and her husband Ryan have three children.