Gearld Wright Elementary 1st grade teacher Kimi Bayles is among 10 educators in Utah to receive this year’s UEA/doTERRA Excellence in Teaching Award.

View Kimi Bayles’s spotlight video on the PBS Utah website

Bayles and her fellow awardees were selected based on their impact on individual students and entire classes. She will receive $1,500 in addition to other items to highlight her accomplishment.

“Mrs. Bayles makes learning fun for her students,” wrote a parent. “She has genuine excitement watching her students learn. She is very organized, patient, creative, fun and structured. She makes her students feel important, loved, and confident.”

A school colleague added: “She spent hours creating a curriculum for a student who came mid‐year speaking no English and helped him complete the year on grade level. She had a student with extreme anxiety who cried all day who she taught daily affirmations to and helped her build her confidence. By the time this student came to me in second grade, she was reading above level and had no more anxiety. Another student in her class one year had extreme anger issues…she taught this child calming strategies and helped her learn to recognize manage her feelings on her own. These are just a few examples of how much time she puts in to finding ways to reach every child no matter what their needs are.”