Kristi Lopez
Sahuarita School District and Walden Grove High School are proud to recognize Kristi Lopez as our outstanding high school faculty member of the year. Ms. Lopez graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a minor in dance from The University of Arizona, and she completed her secondary teaching certification through Pima Community College. She began her teaching career as a kindergarten teacher at Sahuarita Primary School in 2009, and transitioned to Walden Grove High School in 2011 to launch the brand new high school dance program.
Kristi Lopez not only teaches her students how to dance, but she focuses on developing the whole child. A walk through her classroom will reveal students engaged in dance, of course, but also students reflecting on their lives, identifying reasons for gratitude, and writing thank you notes to people who have impacted their lives. Her commitment to developing her students’ humanity is evident in the other leadership roles she has embraced: Kristi leads the LINK crew (which coordinates freshmen orientation), and she sponsors the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Society Club. She also is an instructional leader on campus, tapping into the versatility she has gained from her experience teaching elementary students through high school students. She serves as an instructional coach, a mentor for new teachers, and department chair of the Fine Arts Department. Kristi has invested in these many leadership roles at the same time that she has built a very successful high school dance program. In three short years, she has taken the program from “brand new” to “award winning.”
Kristi Lopez’s passion and dedication shine through in all that she does, and she truly has impacted the entire school culture and community. Walden Grove High School is fortunate to have Kristi on campus and cannot imagine a better candidate for the Outstanding High School Faculty Member of the Year award!
