Shawnee teacher named State Teacher of the Year finalist
Serena Neely, a first-grade teacher at Will Rogers Elementary in Shawnee, serves a snack to her students on April 16. Neely was the District Teacher of the Year for 2024-'25, and she is a top-10 finalist for State Teacher of the Year. Natasha Dunagan, Countywide & Sun
In her first-grade classroom, Serena Neely leads her students in the flyswatter game. Two lines of students take turns with two flyswatters. They listen as Neely calmly says a word, and they race to the whiteboard to tag that word.
Neely is not too busy to notice students cutting in front of a small boy, and she tells him it’s his turn. Meanwhile, she keeps score.
