The winner of the district’s Teacher of the Year award for the 2024-25 school year is Angela Keeping from Horizon West Middle School. Mrs. Keeping, a School Counselor at West, is in her ninth year with Moorhead Area Public Schools.
“At times, it’s hard to believe I’m actually paid to do this—it truly feels like the best job ever, but it can also be one of the most demanding roles,” said Keeping. “I have the privilege of being there for students during their most challenging and courageous moments, providing them with both the physical and emotional space to express themselves and share their experiences.”
Colleagues frequently pointed to Angela’s tireless work ethic and positive attitude as a reason why she won this year’s award.
“I don't think I have worked with anyone who has worked as hard as Angie,” said Jenna Trosvik, a 6th grade math teacher at Horizon West. “She started in our building as the only Counselor to 1200 students. It was pure chaos and she always had a smile on her face.
“I remember her coming to speak to our 4th graders about the new Horizon West being built and how great of a job she did at engaging 175 students at once and thinking to myself, ‘She is making me excited for this new change to my job because she seems like an awesome person to work with!’”
Horizon BARR Coordinator Rachel Lerum added: “Angie is a supremely skilled school counselor. She makes relationships with both students and staff a priority in everything she does. She is calm and empathetic, she has amazing follow-through when approached with a challenging situation and is such a strong advocate for our students.”
Late in the 2023-24 school year, a staff departure saw Angela once again become the only counselor for all 1,096 students at Horizon West. Her coworkers marveled at how she rose to the occasion.
“Having to support nearly 1,100 young people is far from ideal,” noted Dan Dooher, media specialist at Horizon West. “Mrs. Keeping handled this challenge with grace and a student-centered attitude. She did so by working together with our social worker and delegating some of her role to a long-term substitute.”
Colleagues were also quick to point out that it’s not just students that Mrs. Keeping helps support.
“Angie uses her skills of compassion, insight and working under pressure to effectively help so many people around her,” said sixth grade language arts teacher Emily Olson. “She not only supports over 500 students in their social emotional learning and struggles, but she is always checking in on the needs of staff and others in the community as well. Since our building opened, Angie has been a consistent, stabilizing force. I am not sure where we would be without her.”
Each year, Education Moorhead selects school-level Teachers of the Year based on peer nomination and voting, with a second round of voting determining the district-level winner from among the school winners. The 2024-25 winners for each building are:
Aaron Hamblin - Dorothy Dodds Elementary School
Kayla Sagert - Ellen Hopkins Elementary School
Sarah Martin - Probstfield Elementary School
Brittany Escobedo - Robert Asp Elementary School
Courtney Grout - S.G. Reinertsen Elementary School
Angela Keeping - Horizon Middle School West
Jill Filipi - Horizon Middle School East
Natalie Anderson-Foshag - Moorhead High School
Jon-Erik Vironala - MHS Career Academy/West Central Academy/Moorhead Alternative Learning Center
Mellisa Grosz - Vista Center for Education