Katie Gordon was a kindergarten teacher at Liberty Early Elementary School in Decatur Township for 10 years before joining the faculty at Stephen Decatur Elementary this year. Prior to joining Stephen Decatur, she was the Liberty teacher of the year in 2009 and 2014 and became district teacher of the year and a semifinalist for state teacher of the year in 2014. At Stephen Decatur, Katie’s assignments include planning professional development for 1st through 6th-grade staff, analyzing data and educational trends, and modeling best teaching practices. All of these duties help to facilitate teacher growth while strengthening skills as instructional practitioners.

Katie’s strong commitment to excellence in education began in her undergraduate years at Butler University and continued as she earned her Master’s in Educational Leadership from Indiana University. She has sought out many additional opportunities for growth including the Teacher Leadership Academy through CIESC as well as various professional development opportunities on curriculum mapping, Expeditionary Learning, and technology as a tool for 21st-century learning. As a teacher, she used Skype and Twitter to expand her professional learning network while helping her students connect more with the global community. She also worked to develop a variety of service-learning projects with her students and continues to demonstrate her passion for student engagement in her role as instructional coach.