Tara Cocanower, a world history teacher at Bluffton High School and the 2023 Indiana Teacher of the Year, is ready to mentor the next INTOY.
Cocanower’s last major event with her 2023 Teachers of the Year cohort was the College Football Playoff National Championship game in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 8. The state teachers of the year were recognized on the field prior to kickoff.
During festivities leading up to the big game, Cocanower competed in a football toss competition. After receiving football throwing lessons from a few Bluffton Tigers, Cocanower was one of 18 teachers to make the throw — earning $1,000 for the Bluffton-Harrison Metropolitan School District. She says she plans to use it in some way in each BHMSD building to give back to her fellow teachers.
Cocanower reflects on her year as an advocate for public education in the January episode of The Roar Report: A BHMSD Podcast. Superintendent Brad Yates visited Mrs. Cocanower’s classroom to chat about her INTOY tenure.
Mrs. Cocanower cited two experiences among the highlights of her year: Riding in the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade to a crowd of people cheering her on, not because they knew her but because she was a teacher, and her time at Space Camp in July 2023.
“So often as a teacher, I challenge students at Bluffton to push outside of their comfort zones, to rise above their insecurities. I try to champion them to overcome their anxieties. And for me, Space Camp was that,” she said. “I had to put my money where my mouth is and I had to overcome my own insecurities. I had to get over my own anxiety. And it was incredible. I thrived and I loved it. And I hadn’t had many of those experiences as an adult recently.”
Yates commended Cocanower for modeling her journey for BHMSD students as they pursue whatever comes next.
“For you to walk that, of what you talk about, is really important and powerful,” Yates said.
Cocanower expressed her appreciation for the support from the BHMSD administration, her colleagues and the community. The appreciation has been mutual.
“Thank you so much for what you do everyday,” Yates said, “but also for what you’ve done to lead education for our state and specifically for Bluffton-Harrison over the last year.”
The 2024 Indiana Teacher of the Year is Eric Jenkins, an English teacher from Franklin Community High School. Cocanower served on the selection committee and will mentor him this year.
Cocanower says she has stopped saying she is “just going back to the classroom” after the busy year she’s had.
“I’m not going backwards to anything,” she said. “I’ve learned things. I’ve grown as a person. I’ve gained so much confidence that I’m going forward to the classroom. I’m going to have an adventure having learned new things to share with the students that I have this semester and beyond at Bluffton.”
