Best Should Teach Ceremony on March 5 to honor outstanding educators at , local schools
Keynote to focus on moving across differences in classrooms
The University of Colorado Boulder will celebrate and center excellence in teaching at the 2026 Best Should Teach Awards Ceremony on Thursday, March 5 at 6 p.m. in the Chancellor’s Auditorium in the Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) building, 1725 Euclid Ave.
Free and open to the public, the event will honor outstanding Boulder faculty members, graduate student instructors and K-12 teachers in local school districts to highlight the essential role teachers play in shaping inclusive and thriving learning communities.
Professor Mollie Blackburn of The Ohio State University—one of the nation’s leading scholars on literacy, language and the experiences of LGBTQ+ youth—will deliver this year’s keynote. Blackburn brings deep expertise, and she will lead an engaging conversation about equity in education.
Her talk, “(For)Giving in Moving Across Differences,” draws on research from an LGBTQ+-themed literature course and examines how students and teachers can navigate differences by rethinking forgiveness and embracing the act of giving. She highlights how these practices open the door to ethical, humanizing encounters in classrooms—an especially topical message for educators today.
If You Go
Who:Welcomes educators and open to the public
What:Awards Ceremony and Keynote with Mollie Blackburn: (For)Giving in Moving Across Differences"
When:Thursday, March 5, 6 p.m.
Where:Chancellor’s Auditorium, the Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) building
Blackburn’s scholarship appears in top journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, Research in the Teaching of English and Teachers College Record and has earned national recognition from National Council of Teachers of English, the American Educational Research Association and more. She is the author of “Interrupting Hate: Homophobia in Schools and What Literacy Can Do It” and co‑editor of the award‑winning “Acting Out!: Combating Homophobia through Teacher Activism.”
The Best Should Teach Awards Ceremony is co‑hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the School of Education in conjunction with the College of Arts and Sciences. Students from across the university nominate instructors who have made a meaningful difference in their academic experience. The initiative was established in 1996 by lifelong educator Lindley Stiles and his wife, Marguerite Stiles, to celebrate excellence in teaching.
The 2025–2026 Boulder Faculty Gold Award recipients are:
- Heidi Day, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Erin Furtak, School of Education
- Danielle Hodge, Department of Communication
- Akhil Khanal, Department of Biochemistry
- Meghan McCarroll, Masters of the Environment
- Bhuvana Narasimhan, Department of Linguistics
The 2025–2026 K–12 Gold Award recipients from partner school districts are:
- Ace Engelmann, English Language Arts Teacher, Boulder High School, Boulder Valley School District
- Valerie Franzke‑Munro, Science Teacher, Northglenn High School, Adams 12 Five Star Schools
- Abby Martinez, Middle School Music Teacher, Erie Middle School, St. Vrain Valley School District
- Vicky Ortiz, 4th Grade Spanish Environment Teacher, Foster Dual Language PK–8, JeffCo Public Schools
- Paula Ospina, 3rd Grade ELA‑S Literacy Teacher and Early Literacy and Language Senior Team Lead, College View Elementary, Denver Public Schools
The Best Should Teach awardees were selected for their embodiment of the behaviors and skills of exemplary teachers who commit to supporting other educators and sustain strong classroom learning communities where students thrive and experience belonging.
The Best Should Teach Initiative continues to be guided by Lindley Stiles’ enduring motto: “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.”
