First grade teacher nominated for Horizon Award

Abe Hubert Elementary School first grade teacher Addyson Bjurstrom has been chosen as USD 457’s nominee for the Kansas Horizon Award Program. 

The Kansas Horizon Award Program, sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education, identifies and recognizes representatives of excellent teaching in classrooms across the state. The mission of the program is to recognize exemplary first-year teachers who perform in a way that distinguishes them as outstanding.

Bjurstrom, who is now in her second year of teaching first grade students at Abe Hubert Elementary School, graduated from Newman University with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. She began working in USD 457 as a student teacher in the first grade at Abe Hubert Elementary School during the 2024-25 school year.

“I am excited and humbled to receive the nomination for this award,” said Bjurstrom “I am grateful to work at the same elementary school that I went to elementary school at. I love my students and my job at the school.”  

Bjurstrom can be found encouraging her first-grade students at Abe Hubert Elementary School to do their very best by creating a fun and engaging classroom for them to learn in.

Kansas Horizon Award Program winners will be recognized at a special luncheon during the 2027 Kansas Exemplary Educators Network (KEEN) Conference in February in Topeka.