Every employee of the district is welcome to nominate teachers for this recognition.  All nominees were invited to complete a written application. These applications are then reviewed by a committee of past TOTYs, NMFT officers, and NMFT-Retired representatives.  The district finalists complete a second in-depth application, have classroom observations, and are interviewed by the committee. This process is similar to those used by Orange County and California Departments of Education. Top Applicants move on to the Orange County Teacher of the Year competition.

NMFT manages the application and selection process.  We help coordinate our teachers’ applications with OCDE.  NMFT also provides a small gift to these outstanding teachers. This is an example of our union dues at work to recognize the hard work of our teachers.