Excel Awards

Educator Support

Congratulations 2025 Excel Award Winners!

The Excel Awards

Each year, nine classroom teachers and one school administrator are honored for their efforts in forging a “Legacy of Leadership & Learning” in the difficult and vital work that they do every day at an Excel Evening of Honors event with a dinner, videos of their accomplishments, a $1,500 check, and gifts from community sponsors. To be a sponsor, contact the Granite Education Foundation office.

The nine winning classroom teachers will then have the opportunity to apply for the Granite School District Teacher of the Year award, along with past Excel Award winners who are current classroom teachers. The GSD Teacher of the Year award winner then represents Granite School District as the applicant for the Utah Teacher of the Year award. We are honored to be a part of the nomination process to honor Utah’s top educators.

To nominate a teacher for the 2024-2025 Excel Award, go to https://granitekids.org/excel/

2024 - 2025 marks the 35th year of Granite Education Foundation's Excel Award, the oldest and longest running teacher recognition award in the state.

This year, nine educators and one administrator will receive $1,500 each as well as additional prizes honoring the difficult and vital work they do.

2025 Excel Award Winners

  • Chantal Esquivias, Olympus High School
  • Jennifer Christensen, Olympus High School, Principal
  • Anna Kendall, Bonneville Jr High
  • Ana Alamo, Cottonwood Elementary
  • Carolyn Wetzel, Oakridge Elementary
  • Stephanie Nykamp, Upland Terrace Elementary
  • Shellie Rush, Whittier Elementary
  • Jennifer Johnson, Hunter Jr. High
  • Rai Pattison, Kearns Jr. High
  • Meghan Allen, Kearns High School

2024 Excel Award Winners

  • Adam Wilkins, Cottonwood High School
  • Seyyed Sharifi, Hartvigsen School

    2023-2024 GSD Teacher of the Year

  • Iliana Gomez, Stansbury Elementary
  • Alejandra Mena Arellano, West Kearns Elementary
  • Rock Frampton, Hunter High School
  • Brandon Moore, Principal, Frost Elementary
  • Nathan Smith, Harry S. Truman & Fox Hills Elementary
  • Prema Chruthoti, Lincoln Elementary
  • Susan Wiley, Upland Terrace Elementary
  • Shae Bunker, Skyline High School

2023 Excel Award Winners

  • Amber Clayton, Millcreek Elementary
  • McKenzie Jackson, Lincoln Elementary
  • Jordan Johnson, Whittier Elementary
  • Shelly Johnson, Orchard Elementary
  • Michelle La-Bonnell, Academy Park Elementary
  • Liz Laguan, Stansbury Elementary
  • Nicole McCrea, Neil Armstrong Academy
  • Kjersti Parkes, Hunter High School
  • Jill Sundberg, Churchill Jr. High
  • Carter Woolf, Westlake Jr. High

2022 Excel Award Winners

  • Heidi Baer, Driggs Elementary
  • Lynsey Butler, Post High
  • Principal Brenda Byrnes, Woodstock Elementary
  • Kirsten Federico, Woodrow Wilson Elementary
  • Kathleen Hess, Cottonwood High
  • Michele Jones, Cyprus High
  • Colette Madsen, Twin Peaks Elementary
  • Grace Morrell, South Kearns Elementary
  • Ruben Núñez Gutiérrez, Eisenhower Jr. High
  • Pamela Tafili, Jefferson Jr. High

2021 Excel Award Winners

  • Rebecca B. Monson, Administrator, Thomas W. Bacchus Elementary
  • Albert Ferrarons Font, West Lake Junior High
  • Jennette Fordham, Woodstock Elementary
  • Jennifer Bond-Foulke, William Penn Elementary
  • Tayler T. Khater, Skyline High
  • Michael C. Kraniski, Olympus High
  • Samuel K. Noyce, Thomas Jefferson Junior High
  • Cynthia Pearson, Howard R. Driggs Elementary
  • Amy M. Roper, Bennion Elementary
  • Rachel Sorensen, West Valley Elementary

© 2025 Granite Education Foundation

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