Pictured above: Laron Johnson, (left) the 2026 Idaho Teacher of the Year, stands with this year's winner, Boise Education Association member Amanda Holland (center), and Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield during the surprise awards ceremony.
The big award: Holland thought she was attending a morning assembly featuring Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Debbie Critchfield at Washington Elementary School, where Holland teaches second grade. But there were bigger plans afoot.
• Critchfield made the surprise announcement in front of Washington students, who were seated criss cross apple sauce in the school gym. When Holland’s name was announced, the students began shaking noisemakers and chanting, “MS. HOLLAND! MS. HOLLAND!”
• Holland’s husband and two sons were in attendance to see Holland accept the award and a $10,000 check from CapEd Credit Union.
• The award is presented annually by the Idaho Department of Education, in partnership with CapEd.
The backstory: Holland told students — to a few audible gasps — that she hadn’t planned on going into education.
• “My grandma told me I should be a teacher, but I didn’t always want to be a teacher,” she said.
• Watching her two sons learn stirred something within Holland. With the full support of her husband, she said, she went back to school. “These are my two sons, Stuart and Parker,” she said to the elementary students, indicating her now-grown sons standing behind her. “And when they would sit down at night at the kitchen table doing their homework in second and fifth grade, I would sit down and do my homework so I would become a teacher, and we would work together.”
• Holland said she has taught several grades, but her current work has been a highlight — she learns something new every day, she said. “And that’s one of the reasons why I love being a teacher, because I get to continually learn, and I get to continually learn with some of the most amazing kids in the world at Washington Elementary.”
What happens next: Holland will serve as a spokesperson and representative for Idaho educators — and one of her first engagements will be presenting before the Senate Education Committee during the Idaho legislative session. She will also represent Idaho in the National Teacher of the Year program; the national winner will be announced in the spring.
