Best Should Teach honors outstanding educators at CU Boulder and in local schools
As a kick-off for teacher appreciation week, CU Boulder’s 2025 Best Should Teach Awards Ceremony celebrated exceptional educators—including K-12 teachers, graduate student instructors, and CU Boulder faculty—and their profound impact on learners on May 1.
The event featured keynote speaker, Alphonse Keasley, former Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement at CU Boulder, who discussed ways to support students and educators in challenging times, and he honored the foresight of educators like Lindley Stiles, who established the Best Should Teach Initiative in 1996 to celebrate excellence in teaching.
Stiles’ inspiring motto is inscribed on the Lucile Berkeley Buchanan Building: “To those who come, I leave the flame! Hold it as high as you can reach. If a better world is your aim, all must agree: The Best Should Teach.” - Lindley Stiles
The Best Should Teach Awards Ceremony honors K-20 educators who make a meaningful and lasting impact on students’ lives. Co-hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning, the School of Education, and the College of Arts and Sciences, the program recognized outstanding CU Boulder faculty, K–12 teachers from some of the School of Education’s partner school districts, and graduate student instructors who exemplify excellence in teaching and inspire through their passion, dedication, and leadership.
CU Boulder students from all colleges and schools were invited to submit nominations, and the 2024-2025 CU Boulder Faculty Gold Award Recipients include:
- Kelvin Bates, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
- Jolene Fisher, Associate Professor, Advertising, Public Relations, and Design
- Peter Hunt, Professor, Classics
- Warren Sconiers, Associate Teaching Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Benjamin Shear, Assistant Professor of Research and Evaluation Methodology in the School of Education
- Harry Mohr Starn, Jr., Teaching Professor & Director of the Personal Financial Planner Program in Leeds
- Joshua Strayhorn, Associate Professor, Political Science
The 2024-2025 K-12 Gold Award Recipients from partner school districts include:
- Maurie Marcil, Whittier International Elementary School
- Ashley Beaudoin, Longmont High School
Additionally, more than 45 outstanding graduate students who serve the Center for Teaching and Learning as Lead Graduate Teachers were honored with Silver Awards.
To learn more about the Best Should Teach initiative, visit https://www.colorado.edu/center/teaching-learning/teaching-resources/grants-awards/best-should-teach.