I am proud to be among these exemplary educators and the many fantastic teachers not included here. This award acknowledges that teachers are an important part of raising capable leaders, solution finders, explorers, stewards, creative collaborators, and informed citizens. We are tasked with empowering thinkers, encouraging doers, and opening space to discover what we could not have imagined on our own. We stay the course so students can forge a new one.

Stacey Zaback Monmouth, OR | 7-12, Science, 2023

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

Stacey Zaback has been teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth grade science as well as art, robotics, and STEAM electives at Luckiamute Valley Charter School (LVCS) for the past three years. She also volunteers her lunch hours to run the Girls Who Code club. Prior to LVCS, she was a fifth grade multi subject and high school art teacher at Kings Valley Charter School for seven years and a fifth grade teacher at Good Samaritan School for three years. A desire to help students with diverse backgrounds learn to solve complex problems stretches to Stacey’s work with the International Expressions of Kindness as a pilot teacher, co-creator, and curricula presenter. She also participated as a Clean Energy Fellow with Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF). Stacey led students through activities and lessons about renewable energy, then presented to colleagues in her cohort and beyond. Stacey taught a Ukrainian teacher delegation on how to use online tools more effectively during the war in a "train the trainers" workshop at Oregon State University. This opportunity led her to gather donations of Finchbots, Micro:bits, books, and clean energy kits from BEF to send to teachers in Ukraine. Stacey has led her students to successfully participate in the World Peace Game, Artemis II through Northwest Earth Space Science Pathways, and she is participating with a team of teachers in The Farm to School Institute. Stacey is a member of the Oregon Science Teachers Association and the National Science Teaching Association. Stacey holds a B.S. in liberal studies and education from Oregon State University and Master of Science Education from Montana State University. She is licensed to teach middle school science, kindergarten through sixth grade multi-subjects, and art K-12.

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