AURORA — Chris Sundberg didn’t want the interruption this morning.
When Hinkley High School principal Peter Mosby announced a surprise all-school assembly at 8 a.m., she fired off an e-mail, objecting to the scheduling during instructional time, asking if she and her class could opt out.
Mosby told her attendance was mandatory.
A few minutes later, Sundberg, who was lurking in the back of the gymnasium, was shocked to hear her name called out as the recipient of Colorado’s Teacher of the Year, an award sponsored by Wal-Mart.
She won a $10,000 prize for her school, and recognition for her passion for teaching.
“Her classes are so alive,” said Mosby. “She ignites students, whether they’re merely attending classes or are at the head of the class.”
Sundberg has taught at Hinkley for 11 years, emphasizing the history of Africa to her International Baccalaureate students.
Each year she and at least two students go to Africa, where they work with local residents to remove land mines. Last year they also built a house in Mozambique. Her students raise over $30,000 each year to fund the trips.
The trips were cited by Mosby as one of the exceptional things she does. When asked how he chose her from among Hinkley’s teachers he said, “without hesitation.”
“I have a lot of fantastic teachers, but she does things so far beyond,” he said.
In accepting the award this morning, Sundberg immediately shared the credit with every other teacher at Hinkley, asking them to stand for applause, and then with her students.
“Teaching takes two sides — we could just talk to the walls,” she said.
Sundberg is a mother of three, and grandmother of six.
She’s taught all over the metro area, and served on the Thornton School Board, District 12. She also used to own a preschool.
Mosby said Sundberg will determine how the award from the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year contest will be spent.
