KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas Department of Education announced on Monday that one local educator was selected as the 2026 Kansas Teacher of the Year (KTOY) over the weekend.

Rachel Marlow, a music teacher at Central Elementary School in Olathe, was awarded the honor on Saturday night at a banquet of more than 370 educators, business representatives and families in Wichita.

She was selected out of eight other finalists -- Tracie Betz, Tranda Strnad, Troy St. Clair, Julie Smith, Susan Rogers, Jason Peters, and another local teacher, Lauren Sage, a biology and environmental science teacher at F.L. Schlagle High School in Kansas City, Kansas -- all of whom were selected from a pool of 126 nominations.

“Rachel is a true professional who has made the art of music accessible to all students,

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