Highlighting her years of hard work in the classroom, veteran music teacher Kati Sears has been named the North Big Horn Basin Music Educator of the Year.

“Southside Elementary School and our community of families are very excited that Mrs. Sears received this award from the state music association,” Principal Scott Schiller said. “It is well deserved! Mrs. Sears is an outstanding music educator. She instills a love of music with all of our students and it shows in the excellence we see in each and every music program. She is one of a kind and we are blessed to have her at Southside Elementary School!”

Sears is honored to have been nominated by her colleagues, she said, as she works with some of the best music educators in the state and is humbled by the nomination. Sears has taught music for 20 years with 13 of them being in Powell.

To earn the award teachers must be nominated by an educator in their district and have more than six years of teaching experience. 

“It’s just me doing my job, and it’s just doing what I love and making music with the kids,” Sears said of the award. “So I’m the lucky one. I’m the one that gets to have the best musicians make music with me every day.”

Music has always been a driving force in her life, and it’s something she enjoys passing on to students.

“I just really, truly enjoy passing on that enjoyment and seeing the kids find their own enjoyment while experiencing music,” Sears said, adding, “Who else gets to play instruments all day and dance and play games and sing? I love my job, because I get to do all those really amazing, fun things. We’re learning and we’re working and we’re growing together.”

Sears was nominated for the award in November alongside two other teachers in the basin. Following her regional win, she will now be honored at the state Music Educators Conference, in Cody this January. As a winner she is also in the running for the state music educator of the year with teachers from the other districts in the state.

“Having the state [title] would be just totally out of this world to me,” Sears said. “I’m just honored to be nominated in my district because we have such awesome people here in the Big Horn Basin.”