DENVER — Janet Damon, a history teacher at DELTA High School in Denver Public Schools, on Thursday was named Colorado’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.
Damon, a DPS graduate who has worked in the district for more than a quarter-century, was given the honor during a surprise ceremony Thursday morning. Denver7’s Nicole Brady was there.
“My goal in this role is to just honor the incredible service that teachers across our state are providing to students every single day [...] and to also uplift the students,” Damon told Denver7. “It's an honor and privilege to teach them, to work beside them, to honor their experiences and to help move them in the direction that they want to go for their future.”
Thursday’s honor is the latest in a decorated run for Damon of late. Earlier this year she was named the Extraordinary Teacher Award by Suntec Concrete. She received the African Americans Who are Making a Difference Award in 2023. In 2022, she earned the Black Family Council’s first ever Making Our Futures Brighter Award as well as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award.
“I could not be more proud of Janet for being named the Colorado Teacher of the Year,” DPS Superintendent Alex Marrero said in a statement. “In her classroom, students use inquiry, research, digital storytelling, and culturally sustaining learning to attack their learning. After more than 25 years in DPS, she continues to find innovative ways to teach her scholars and they are better prepared for whatever is next after being in her classroom.”
DELTA High School is an alternative high school that serves students who have faced financial, economic or other challenges. Damon called it a “transformative place.”
“It's where teachers lean in and listen, where we want to meet them where they are. We want to support them in their journey, and we want to help restore some of their confidence in themselves as learners, because each one has infinite potential. We just have to connect with that potential and help them to believe it's there.”
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Damon moved to Denver as a teenager and graduated from Denver West High School. Her father and daughter are both teachers.
“Education is what transformed both of my parents' journeys,” Damon said. “Both of them encountered a lack of access to some of the power of education. [...] And so I feel like in my family, education is transformation. It helps you reach your long term goals and helps you expand to your highest self.
“And so for my family, service and education go hand in hand.”
As the Teacher of the Year recipient, Damon will be gifted $5,000 and receive funding for Teacher of the Year activities over the course of the next year.
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