Two Gardner educators are in the running for the Kansas Horizon Award after the Gardner Edgerton School District nominated them for this year's statewide program.

Dawn Thomas, a fourth-grade teacher at Gardner Elementary School, and Aubrey Rising, the orchestra teacher at Wheatridge Middle School, are USD 231's picks for the elementary and secondary categories. The district announced the nominations Tuesday, Sept. 22.

The Kansas Horizon Award, a Kansas State Department of Education program, recognizes outstanding educators who are nominated after their first year and honored during their second year in the classroom. Each district may nominate one elementary and one secondary teacher, according to the KSDE program page.

Thomas and Rising are not yet statewide honorees. Regional selection committees will review nominations and choose up to four elementary and four secondary teachers per region, for a possible total of 32 recognized across the state. The regions correspond to Kansas's four U.S. congressional districts.

The process is extensive. Candidates must complete essays about their teaching practice, gather letters of reference from administrators, students, parents and peers, and sit for an interview, according to the district.

Gardner Edgerton has a track record with the award. In January 2023, Superintendent Brian Huff said Jennifer Miller of Nike Elementary and Stephanie Ruley of Gardner Edgerton High School had been recognized as Horizon Award winners by then-KSDE Commissioner Randy Watson.

The program's reach extends across the Olathe area. Neighboring Spring Hill USD 230 saw teacher Cordelia Hanger named one of the 32 statewide Horizon Award recipients earlier this year. Hanger was formally recognized at the Kansas Exemplary Educators Network conference on Friday, Feb. 20, in Topeka, according to the Spring Hill district.

The application deadline for this cycle is Friday, Oct. 9. Winners will be recognized at the KEEN conference luncheon in February.