Desert View Intermediate teacher Jodian Brown was one of 625 schoolteachers honored at this year’s Arizona Teacher of the Year ceremony.

The event was held October 19 at the Madison Center for the Arts, in Phoenix. PUSD Superintendent Dr. Bryce Anderson, Executive Director of Academic Services Jeannie Wood, Business Manager Lori Wilson and Desert View Principal Mary Stahl attended the ceremony in support of Brown.

Brown is a 4th grade teacher at Desert View Intermediate. This is her sixth year teaching at Desert View. Brown was also nominated for Coconino County Teacher of the Year.

Based on the strength of the Teacher of the Year applications, officials narrowed down the field of 625 teachers to their top 15 candidates and Brown was among those selected. The top 15 teachers then submitted a video highlighting their career and creativity in the classroom. From the strength of her video, Brown advanced into the top 10 finalists.  The top 10 teachers then did an in-person interview with a panel of 20 officials. After that, Brown learned she had been chosen as one of the top five Arizona Teachers of the Year.

Ultimately, Brown was not chosen as Arizona Teacher of the Year, but being one of Arizona’s top five teachers felt pretty amazing.

“It was mind-blowing!” she said, “because these are the best teachers in the state, and being recognized as one of the top five and to have my hard work, commitment and dedication appreciated meant a lot. I must say I felt humbled, but at the same time, honored knowing that I represent Page Unified School District on a state-wide level.”

Brown is a native of Jamaica, and after the Teacher of the Year ceremony news of her achievement quickly spread across her home country. A Jamaican television station, TV Jamaica, did a story about Brown being named one of Arizona’s top five teachers. Within 15 minutes of the story airing in Jamaica, someone reposted it on TikTok. Twelve hours later the TikTok video had 200,000 views. From TikTok it was shared to YouTube. Then a second Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaican Observer, wrote a feature story about it for their Sunday edition.

“It just blew up,” said Brown. “It’s amazing, the reception from the Jamaican community. It makes me proud how supportive they are.”

To understand why the story was such a sensation in Jamaica, there is an unwritten mandate that Jamaicans living abroad should act in a way that they bring pride and honor to the island country, and being recognized as one of the top five teachers in the state certainly met those standards.

“People are big on a Jamaican being in the U.S. representing for Jamaica, as they would say: raising the flag high and the standards that we have,” said Brown. “It feels good to know that Jamaicans do feel proud that I’m here representing well.”

Stahl feels that pride too.

“She’s a great leader and she wants to support the growth of her fourth-grade class and her team,” said Stahl.

One of the reasons Brown was nominated for Teacher of the Year is her drive to go the extra

mile for her school. Last year she organized a Career Day at Desert View, which required dozens of hours of extra work outside of her regular workload. Brown invited a wide range of Page professionals to the event. It was a huge success, with area professionals filling the Desert View gym. Brown organized the Career Day to expose Desert View students to different career

choices, and what route they’d need to take to reach those goals. Brown will organize Desert

View’s Career Day again this year.

“Jodian brings passion about student learning,” said Stahl. “She is curious about learning new ways to reach her students. And to take it a step further, her students pick up on that energy. They notice her going the extra mile for their benefit.”

One of the big things Brown does that her students really notice and appreciate is making her lessons more culturally relevant.

“She incorporates her students’ cultures into her lessons, and explores those cultures with the students,” said Stahl. “Her students love that. It really makes them feel special and valued. They can see themselves in the lesson.”

On November 13, the Blue Bell Ice Cream Company will throw a party for Brown in her Desert View classroom in honor of being one of Arizona’s top five teachers.