Meet two Denton ISD Teachers of the Year, awarded by Jostens and chosen by the district

Blanton Elementary School teacher Raquel Orozco and Guyer High School teacher Stephanie Riley nabbed the top honors at the 2023 Jostens Teacher of the Year celebration, though each campus produced its own winners, too.

Winners got cheers, hugs and some pretty good prizes (cash included) at a celebratory parade.

A district teachers communication committee selected the winners from nominees decided by each elementary and secondary campus. Members named Orozco, a special education and behavioral support teacher at Blanton, as the Elementary School Teacher of the Year. They chose Riley, a 12th grade Advanced Placement Environmental Science teacher at Guyer, as the Secondary Teacher of the year.

Both teachers will be considered among other nominees for the Region XI Teacher of the Year in Texas.

“I came to education in a different path, and I think this shows others who may be looking at education, but have a different career, that they can make that jump and make a difference in a child’s life,” Orozco, who worked for Denton County Juvenile Probation before making the move to the classroom, said in a news release. “I think that’s important.”

Orozco said she loves to watch her students make discoveries, often overcoming behavioral struggles she’s committed to helping them work through.

“I’m just so lucky and grateful to be a part of a district that celebrates us as teachers,” Riley said in a news release. “At least on my end, I get to do something that doesn’t feel like a job. It’s just so fun to do. To be rewarded is just exciting to be a part of.”

While Riley is tasked with preparing her senior Guyer students for their AP exams, the longtime science teacher said her true calling is to get her students curious about the world around them. Her students say they never know what to expect when they walk into Riley’s classroom — other than stimulating lessons and questions meant to get them thinking critically and creatively.

Riley has taught at Guyer High School for 15 years, and Orozco has spent nine years at Blanton Elementary School, and the previous six years at McNair Elementary School before joining Blanton.