By Payton Tholstrup
On Monday, January 13th, 2025, the Kansas State Department of Education announced that Spring Valley Elementary teacher, Denise Acosta, and Junction City High School Teacher, Easton Lager, were named 2024-1015 Kansas Horizon Award honorees. This award recognizes excellent teaching in classrooms across Kansas for teachers who have completed their first year of teaching.
Acosta is a first-grade teacher who first began working in USD 475 as a substitute teacher in January 2022 while finishing her degree at K-State. Her student teaching was completed at Lincoln Elementary.
Lager, also in his second year of teaching, is originally from Garden City. According to USD 475, he has helped transform Junction City High School’s audio and video departments during his short time in the classroom. He is the main videographer at the high school; he produced over 40 live streams during the 2023-2024 school year.
Both teachers received a surprise phone call on Monday from Dr. Randy Watson, Commissioner of Education at the Kansas State Department of Education, letting them know they were being honored with the award. They are the first teachers from USD 475 to be named recipients of this award since 2019.
In total, 31 teachers from each region were honored with the award in 2024-2025. Acosta and Lager will attend a special luncheon during the 2025 Kansas Exemplary Educators Network (KEEN) Conference, scheduled for February 20th-21st of this year.
