Boise teacher Amanda Holland received the 2027 CapEd Credit Union Idaho Teacher of the Year award during a surprise ceremony Wednesday.

State superintendent Debbie Critchfield presented the award — the highest honor for Idaho teachers — at the Boise district’s Washington Elementary in front of the second-grade teacher’s peers, family and students.

“It validates everything that I’ve worked toward to create an engaging classroom that is a community built of empathetic, kind and thinking students,” Holland said, thanking colleagues and family who have helped her over the years.

Critchfield surprised Holland with the award, which included a glass plaque and a $10,000 check from CapEd Credit Union. Holland was selected from 182 nominees. 

“Teachers don’t listen to me when I say this — don’t spend it on your classroom,” Critchfield joked.

Holland said Wednesday that she didn’t always want to be a teacher. Having children inspired her to enter the field after seeing what was happening in her kids’ classrooms. She went back to school to pursue what has become her passion.

Holland has been an educator for 23 years and has a range of accomplishments. She was named an Idaho Master Educator in 2019 and an Idaho state finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2024. She’s also on Washington Elementary’s Building Leadership Team, where she helps foster a schoolwide environment where students feel known, valued and connected.

Holland holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Idaho, an endorsement in teacher leadership in mathematics from Boise State, and a bachelor’s in political science from Brigham Young University.