2013 Iowa TOY Tania Johnson

Tania Johnson, a teaching veteran who has worked to make a difference for generations of students and fellow educators, is the 2013 Iowa Teacher of the Year.

Johnson spent most of her 22-year teaching career in Cedar Rapids kindergarten classrooms before she accepted a teacher leadership position in the school district last fall. A Cedar Rapids native who was inspired by her own teachers to pursue a career in education, Johnson is best known for going above and beyond her work in the classroom and the hours in a school day.

In Johnson’s classrooms, students have found equal parts structure and creativity, high expectations and encouragement. Her students have learned the value of helping others through service projects, such as collecting hats and mittens for a local women’s shelter. Johnson often is invited to celebrate the high school graduation of students she taught as kindergartners. In Johnson, parents have found an open door, as well as an expectation that what is taught in school is reinforced at home.  

“Today, teaching cannot be done with the door closed,” Johnson says. “It is a team sport. Everyone must work together to accomplish the goal of learning.”

Johnson has been a role model for her colleagues. She has mentored kindergarten teachers, opened her classroom to student teachers and has held leadership roles in after-school programs and organizations such as the Jackson Elementary Parent Teacher Association and the Cedar Rapids Education Association. Johnson was named Linn County Educator of the Year in 2006 and earned National Board Certification in 2007.

“The greatest teachers inspire their students and other educators to keep learning and growing,” said Jason Glass, the Iowa Department of Education director. “We look to the leadership of Tania Johnson and many other excellent educators to help move Iowa’s education system forward.”

Johnson started her teaching career in Cedar Rapids in 1990 and remained in the school district with the exception of a one-year teaching opportunity in Brighton, England, on a Fulbright Teacher Exchange Scholarship. From 1994 through last May, Johnson taught kindergarten at Jackson and Coolidge elementary schools.

She was nominated by Jamie Cummins, a Cedar Rapids teacher whose children were in Johnson’s kindergarten class at Jackson Elementary School.

“Tania Johnson is the perfect marriage of traditional teaching values and modern differentiated techniques,” Cummins said. “She truly sets the benchmark for what the standard of teaching should be in Iowa and the nation.”

Cedar Rapids Superintendent Dave Benson said: “Tania’s high expectations, love of learning and innovative teaching style have been a gift to so many students, and her vision and leadership will continue to generate respect from her colleagues and success in Cedar Rapids schools for years to come.”

In her school district, Tania has worked to make a difference for students by supporting their teachers. As the school district’s Teacher Quality Liaison, Tania specializes in connecting Cedar Rapids teachers with professional development activities. She also has kept a presence in the classroom as a permanent substitute teacher at Arthur Elementary School in Cedar Rapids.

“I believe that I will positively impact even more students as I focus on helping teachers and the profession,” Johnson said. “I look forward to learning and growing as a professional in my new role while also staying connected with students in the classroom.”

News Release - 2013 Iowa Teacher of the Year

2013 Iowa TOY Finalists

• Heather Anderson, a grades 1-3 teacher at Cowles Montessori School in Windsor Heights (Des Moines Public Schools)
• Christine Green, a 7th grade science teacher at North Scott Junior High School in Eldridge
• Matt Heston, a mathematics teacher at Knoxville High School in Knoxville
• Joshua Steenhoek, a 5th grade math and science teacher at Jefferson Intermediate School in Pella

Past Honorees

Teacher of the Year Recipients

**One of four contenders for National Teacher of the Year
*National Teacher of the Year