'That Quality Teacher:' EPS Looks To Invest In Teachers For 2024-2025 School Year

Summer is winding down and teachers and administrators are hard at work preparing for back-to-school.

We are taking a look inside metro school districts to find out what their goals are for the new year, starting with Edmond Public Schools.

The superintendent says they're emphasizing equipping teachers to be their best.

This is a mindset one of their middle school art teachers says he's already grateful for. “I’ve always loved what I’ve done,” Tracy Wilmes, Heartland Middle School’s most recent teacher of the year and a 31-year teaching veteran, said.

Wilmes is already busy this summer decorating his whimsical classroom. “It’s definitely a creative space,” he said.

Wilmes teaches “STEAM,” a combination of STEM and art.

“It’s stem with the arts,” he explained. “So it’s science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.”

He's an example of the investment Edmond Public Schools wants to make.

“If we want to improve student outcomes and student learning, we have to have that quality teacher,” EPS Superintendent Angela Grunewald said, describing an emphasis on increasing time and resources for teachers to excel. “You can’t just walk in today and say oh what are we going to do today? It takes time to figure that out.”

She said quality teachers yield quality education and in turn, “the quality they pull out of our students is unbelievable.”

Wilmes says he’s grateful for the support from the administration. “Our students are an investment. It really does take a village,” he said. “I just really enjoy watching to see the kids blossom, you know, find their identity, kind of find their way in life.”

Edmond Public Schools starts the new year on August 15.

Stay with News 9 for a look inside more metro school districts coming over the next few weeks.