Today, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced its six finalists in the 2008-2009 Missouri Teacher of the Year program, and two of them teach in University City. They are:

• Mariah Spanglet, a special education teacher with Special School District of St. Louis County, assigned to Flynn Park Elementary School in the University City School District
• Margaret L. Williams, a social studies teacher at University City High School
• Mark Alan Anderson, an art and graphic design teacher at Oak Park High School in the North Kansas City School District
• Rani Khakh, a third-grade teacher at Franklin Smith Elementary School in the Blue Springs School District
• Shelli Lee, a preschool teacher at Grandview Elementary School in the Lafayette County C-1 School District in Higginsville
• Kirt Mosier, an orchestra teacher at Lee’s Summit West High School in the Lee’s Summit School District

Nominations for the award were submitted by 44 public school districts across the state.   The selection committee will interview the finalists Aug. 27 in Jefferson City to select the new Missouri Teacher of the Year.   That person automatically becomes a candidate in the national Teacher of the Year program.