I have been incredibly lucky to have had amazing educators in my life as a student and as a teacher. I've also learned so much from the students I teach; each day they inspire me to be a better teacher with their tenacity and passion for learning. Receiving the Presidential Award is validation that I'm doing right by my students and a celebration of all the incredible educators I have in my life who've shaped me into the teacher that I am.

Amanda Rapstad Belgrade, MT | K-6, Science, 2022

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Amanda Rapstad has been an educator for 18 years and has spent the last nine years teaching at Story Creek Elementary (previously Heck-Quaw Elementary) where she teaches all subjects of fourth grade. She began her teaching career in Arizona at Nautilus Elementary School where she taught first and third grade for nine years. Amanda’s passion for education lies in fostering lifelong learning amongst her students. She believes that learning should be exciting, engaging, and relevant and provides her students with bountiful opportunities to engage in authentic experiences. Recently, through a partnership with Montana State University’s science and engineering departments, Amanda’s students solved real-world problems by engineering filters to clean the air after a wildfire damaged much of a local town. Her students spoke with local engineers and discussed issues in the community and gave input on how they would use engineering design to solve problems. A lifelong learner, Amanda can be found participating in book clubs and professional learning communities, presenting at conferences, working on her district’s curriculum team, or mentoring teachers new to the profession. In 2018 Amanda received the Distinguished Teacher - Regular Education award from the Montana Council of Administrators of Special Education for her work with students in the special education program in the general classroom setting. Amanda has a B.S. in elementary education from Montana State University, and an M.Ed. in school leadership and an M.Ed. in educational technology, both from Northern Arizona University. She holds a National Board Certification in literacy: reading-language arts. She is certified in kindergarten through eighth grade elementary education.

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