Last Thursday, September 24th, 2026, I had the honor of giving the Teacher of the Year speech as part of the Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s annual State of Education Address from the capitol rotunda in Madison. I spent around a month sweating over every word of what was supposed to be a 4-minute speech on some aspect of public education, and I was nervous as heck in the hours leading up to its delivery. Fortunately, everyone at the Department of Public Instruction is absolutely wonderful and did everything they could to put me at ease. Below is video shot by Wiseye.org of the speech (see their video of the entire event, including Dr. Jill Underly’s amazing, inspiring speech, at the following link: 2026 Wisconsin State of Education Address).
The speech is inspired by lines from Lord Byron’s poem “Prometheus” that have regularly sprung to mind for the past five to ten years that I believe really encapsulate the duties of a teacher. My hope in writing this speech was to express those beliefs as well as speak to the challenges of teaching at this particular moment in time. I leave it to you to decide if I’ve succeeded. (If you prefer to read the speech, a pdf of it is linked as well.)
