Kim Sixta: 2027 Award for Teaching Excellence

The best teachers stay with us forever. They inspire curiosity, encourage growth, and help shape not only their students' futures but also the strength of our communities and democracy. Yet educators continue to face significant challenges, including inadequate funding, overcrowded classrooms, increasing demands, and a lack of recognition for the critical work they do every day.

To honor outstanding public school educators, The NEA Foundation presents the Travelers Insurance Awards for Teaching Excellence. Since 2001, these annual awards have recognized K-12 educators who demonstrate excellence in teaching, commitment to students and families, dedication to equity and inclusion, and advocacy for the profession. Educators like Kimberly Sixta, Hickman Mills NEA, are the reason public education thrives. Congratulations on being one of 43 educators nationwide named a 2027 Travelers Insurance Award for Teaching Excellence recipient by The NEA Foundation.

Each year, NEA state affiliates nominate an educator who exemplifies the best of teaching in their state. Award recipients will be honored at the Salute to Excellence in Education Gala in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 12, 2027. From this distinguished group, five educators are selected to receive the prestigious Horace Mann Awards for Teaching Excellence, along with a $10,000 prize. One educator will earn the NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence-the highest honor in public education-and will receive $25,000.

Kimberly Sixta, Hickman Mills NEA
2026 Missouri Teacher of the Year

Social Studies Teacher, Ruskin High School

Kim Sixta grew up in the same community where she teaches. Now, after 28 years at Hickman Mills School District, she's become proof that staying put can be its own form of excellence.

In September 2026, a statewide committee of her peers selected Sixta as Missouri's 2026 Teacher of the Year, making her the 57th educator to receive the honor since the program began in 1957.

There comes a point in your teaching career when you realize being a good teacher isn't just about lessons or test scores.

It's about speaking up for students' and colleagues' needs. For me, that point built slowly through tough conversations, long teaching days, listening to others' frustrations, and moments when I knew something wasn't working. If you stay in education long enough, you see even though the system is built with good intentions, it doesn't always match the realities students, families, and teachers face. That's where my advocacy started; in the gap between what was supposed to be working and what was actually happening in classrooms. Through roles as department head, teacher leader, PD committee member, and union rep, I found my voice.