Mountain Ridge Math and STUGO teacher Doug Evans received the Deer Valley Teacher of the year award.

After being nominated by a peer, he had to go through a nomination process where he had to write 3-4 pages discussing his teaching style and philosophy, then the last step was an interview in the finals. Mr. Evans says he had gone through the process a few times before, but said he didn’t think he would do it again.

“When I found out I received teacher of the year I was extremely happy and honored. I was “told” by a colleague that I needed to try again and I was lucky enough to have won,” Evans says.

He was honored at a ceremony at the Arizona Broadway Theater last week, where there was an awards ceremony and a nice dinner.

Mr. Evans has been teaching for 23 years, 22 of them here at Ridge. He originally wanted to become a veterinarian.

“At GCC I took the BIO for majors class and half was animals and half plants. Plants were no fun, needless to say I got a D, which deterred my decision to be a Vet.”

Mr. Evans’ favorite part about teaching is that he enjoys the interaction with the students. He feels like teaching is more than just knowing a subject; teachers also need to know the students and letting them know you care. The most important quality of a teacher to him is being there for the students and teaching the subject in a way that the students can connect with it. He emphasizes that letting the students know that you are there when they need you is a big part of that as well.

This philosophy turns out to be what students like the most about Mr. Evans as well.

“He’s always so supportive of everyone and can sometimes be hard on us but it’s always out of love. He’s someone you can talk to about anything and is always there for all of his students,” Ellie Chorpenning, junior STUGO rep says.

Mr. Evans is not a fan of laziness, so it frustrates him sometimes when students are not working or working hard. Another thing that he thinks is not so fun is the politics involved in teaching.

“Just let me teach and do my job,” he says.

Mr. Evans wants to say thank you to all the students, staff and admin for supporting him through this, and says it is much appreciated.

“Also, make sure you mention that the other Mr. Evans and Mr. Korman are my heroes! LOL.”

Congratulations Mr. Evans!