Oak Park School District teacher Owen Bondono has been named the 2020-2021 Michigan Teacher of the Year (MTOY).
The Michigan Department of Education said Friday Bondono learned he was named Teacher of the Year during a virtual conference call meeting with all Regional Teachers of the Year.
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Bondono will be entering his sixth year of teaching English language arts in the fall at Oak Park High School 9th Grade Learning Community. Prior to teaching, he worked as a paraprofessional in the classroom for four years.
State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice said the Michigan Teacher of the Year program is more than finding the best teacher, as that would be an impossible task.
“The Michigan Teacher of the Year is an important advocate and ally for teachers and students,” Dr. Rice said. “We are very fortunate to be able to draw upon Owen’s expertise as the 2020-2021 Michigan Teacher of the Year and are looking forward to working with him and the other nine 2020-2021 Regional Teachers of the Year.”
The Department of Education said Bondono’s selection as the 2020-21 MTOY comes after a “multi-level competitive process that began with the nomination of more than 400 teachers in last fall.”
“The field was narrowed twice and Bondono was named one of the state’s 10 Regional Teachers of the Year (RTOYs) in April,” reads the statement from the department. “Each RTOY then interviewed with a panel of statewide education stakeholders, presented a short professional development module and answered questions on a range of topics relevant to issues faced by teachers today.”
To learn more about the MTOY program, the MTLAC and MDE’s other educator recognition efforts, visit: bit.ly/MDE_Recognition.