Colorado Department of Education announces Denver Public Schools educator Janet Damon as 2025 Colorado Teacher of the Year

DENVER  – Colorado Education Commissioner Susana Córdova, Colorado State Board of Education Chair Rebecca McClellan and Board members Lisa Escárcega and Rhonda Solis, and Denver Public Schools Superintendent Alex Marrero today announced that DELTA High School teacher Janet Damon was named as 2025 Colorado Teacher of the Year. The announcement took place during a surprise ceremony attended by more than 100 students, teachers, and staff of DELTA High School. 

Córdova said: “Janet is an educator who remains deeply student-centered and grounds her practice in the needs and experiences of the students she serves. She creates a safe and supportive learning community in her classroom where students feel empowered to own and drive their own learning.”

Damon graduated from DPS, where she has spent her entire educational career in a variety of roles, including as a history teacher, literacy interventionist, library specialist and trainer, and K-12 school librarian. She has won numerous awards for her work and helps students look objectively at their world through the issues that matter most to them.

“I could not be more proud of Janet for being named the Colorado Teacher of the Year,” Marrero said. “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.”

In early September, Córdova and Marrero, along with representatives from CDE and DPS visited Damon’s classroom to announce that she was one of the state’s seven Teacher of the Year finalists. That surprise announcement included a gift of $500 funded by the Boettcher Foundation to support teacher recognition at DELTA High School. As Colorado’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, Damon will also receive: 

• A gift of $5,000 from the Boettcher Foundation;
• Funding from CDE totaling $5,000 to support Teacher of the Year events and activities through the 2025 calendar year; and
• Recognition from Adams State University. 

Boettcher Foundation Vice President of Grants and Awards Tiffany Anderson said: “Janet’s entire teaching career has been a remarkable journey over which she has made an impact on so many lives, lifting up her students and providing them with an example of an adult with resilience, grace and poise.” 

Following today’s announcement, DELTA students and staff also enjoyed ice cream provided by Blue Bell Ice Cream. 

As Colorado’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, Damon also becomes the state’s candidate for the Council of Chief State School Officers’ National Teacher of the Year Award and will participate in national program activities that include attending a special ceremony at the White House and a trip to NASA’s Space Camp. Her term as Colorado Teacher of the Year begins in January 2025. 

In a letter submitted on Damon’s behalf, former student Katie Haro said: “She gave me the hope and strength to keep on chasing my dreams and goals…She saw me and understood me and acknowledged my wisdom and intelligence. She believed in me.”

“To be a teacher and to be of service is the highest calling,” said Damon earlier this month during her finalist announcement. “I want to thank the students because they show up, they are here, and they’re not letting things distract them from their goals.”

The Colorado Department of Education this year received a record of 1,300 community nominations for the award and 93 nominees who completed the applications. 

The Colorado Teacher of the Year program is sponsored by the Boettcher Foundation and supported by program partners Denver 7, the Colorado Education Association, Adams State University, and Blue Bell Ice Cream.

For more on the Colorado Teacher of the Year, visit the program webpage.

Biography for Janet Damon

Janet Damon is a history teacher at DELTA High School and has been with Denver Public Schools for more than two decades. In her classroom, students brainstorm solutions to major issues such as homelessness, gun violence, incarceration, inflation, immigration, racism, health disparities, and drug addiction in Colorado.

She is the co-founder of Afros and Books, a book club focused on literacy and empowerment that promotes equal access to books in underserved communities. She also organizes outdoor activities for families, such as hiking, kayaking, archery, yoga, fly fishing, and birding, while providing more than 1,000 new books to youth for summer reading.

Damon received the 2024 Extraordinary Teacher Award from Suntec Concrete, the 2023 African Americans Who are Making a Difference Award, the 2022 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, the 2022 Inaugural Making Our Futures Brighter Award, and the 2020 Library Journal Mover and Shaker Award. She has also earned fellowships from Facing History and Fund for Teachers.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Metropolitan State University, a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of Denver, and an educational specialist degree in leadership for educational organizations from the University of Colorado at Denver.