Herzog Announces Teacher of the Year List

By: Amber Warnke

The Herzog Foundation has proudly selected 12 outstanding Christian school teachers for their annual Teacher of the Year recognition. These educators represent the heartbeat of The Herzog Foundation’s mission and purpose. This year, the list includes two ACSI member school teachers, Kit Avery of Southwest Christian High School in Minnesota and Nancy Cook of Rejoice Christian School in Oklahoma.

Herzog President Darrell Jones said, “Excellent teachers are the heartbeat of Christian education, and our 12 teachers of the year are living proof. Now in our fourth year of presenting these awards, we continue to be inspired by the dedication, creativity, and Christ-centered excellence these educators bring to their classrooms.”

The 2025 award recipients appeared in Washington, D.C., for public recognition.

Kit Avery, a finance teacher from ACSI-accredited Southwest Christian High School in Chaska, Minnesota, is one of The Herzog Foundation 2025 teachers of the year. With 579 enrolled students, Southwest Christian High School has been an ACSI member since 1997. Kit feels extremely blessed to be selected as a teacher of the year. He said that the selection was “an incredibly humbling experience” and that it is “an honor to have the opportunity to represent Southwest Christian High School and ultimately our Lord Jesus Christ.” Kit eagerly reflects his success back to those at Southwest, praising the “unbelievable group of faculty, staff, leadership team, students, and families,” which he says make the award “even more humbling and special.”

Dr. Nancy Cook is another 2025 Herzog Foundation Teacher of the Year recipient. Nancy loves her job as a high school Bible teacher at ACSI-accredited Rejoice Christian School in Owasso, Oklahoma, an ACSI member since 1997 with an enrollment of 1,179. Nancy says, “I am both humbled and honored to have received this award for something that I feel . . . called to do and that I love. It is a privilege and a huge responsibility to be able to speak into the lives of young people.” Nancy’s deep desire to help the next generation of young people reflects the heartbeat of both ACSI and The Herzog Foundation.

Stronger together. This initiative is an outplaying of the mission of ACSI—strengthening Christian schools and equipping Christian educators worldwide as we prepare students academically and inspire them to become devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

Through partnerships with like-minded institutions like The Herzog Foundation, ACSI will be able to increase access to quality, biblically integrated professional development and help launch new Christian schools.

ACSI’s alliance with The Herzog Foundation, as well as outstanding teachers like Kit and Nancy, provide shining examples of our mission playing out in real time. Through these and many other partnerships, ACSI will continue to propel students toward academic excellence and spiritual growth for generations to come.