George Anderson, University of Iowa history alumnus, was honored as the 2020-2021 Teacher of the Year by the Iowa Department of Education. Anderson has been a teacher with Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for 13 years. "George has a passion for equitable and engaging teaching practices and uses that approach with students in his classes. He takes every opportunity to create an intellectually rigorous learning environment. "
Anderson received a bachelor's degree in History and Political Science in 2004. Anderson went on to pursue a master's degree in Social Science Education, which he completed in 2006.
“I hope to work on teacher recruitment and retention,” George said. “I want to work on meaningful policy and plans to entice young, passionate and talented people to this amazing job. I hope to be a resource for college students in Iowa that are considering education and to be able to expand upon how vital this role is to all social institutions. As the Iowa Teacher of the Year, it is my sincere hope that I am able to, in some way, impact recruitment of teachers and how we retain a workforce of dedicated professionals.”