PIERRE, S.D. – Becky Haenfler, a middle school English Language Arts teacher at the Avon School District, has been named the 2026 South Dakota Teacher of the Year. Secretary of Education Joseph Graves made the announcement at a banquet held this evening in Fort Pierre.

“Becky Haenfler has a wonderful reputation at Avon School District as being an engaging educator whose teaching style gets kids excited about reading,” said Graves. “She is committed to making sure all of her students have the supports they need to read novels that challenge and inspire them, and that experience turns them into lifelong readers. The DOE team that visited her classroom last spring was overwhelmed by the culture of enthusiasm and seriousness of purpose demonstrated by her students.”

Haenfler teaches fifth, sixth, and seventh grade at Avon School District – the same school that she attended as a child. She now teaches in the same classroom where she first grew to love literature. She works to design engaging, meaningful lessons that help her students make real-world connections, often using novels as the foundation for lessons.

Haenfler is a graduate of the University of South Dakota; she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education, and a Master of Arts degree as a Reading Specialist. She has been teaching for 19 years.

As South Dakota Teacher of the Year, Haenfler receives prizes, including:

1) A $5,000 grant from the West River Foundation to use as she wishes, and

2) a $2,000 honorarium from the South Dakota Board of Regents to present a series of professional development seminars to aspiring teachers.

Additional prizes are made possible through the generosity of the South Dakota Retailers Association and the South Dakota Education Association.

Haenfler will represent South Dakota as a candidate for the 2026 National Teacher of the Year award. The winner will be announced during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., next spring. The National Teacher of the Year Program began in 1952 and continues as the oldest, most prestigious national honors program that focuses public attention on excellence in teaching.

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