Five Utah educators will compete for the 2027 Utah Teacher of the Year title at a Sept. 3 awards banquet, the Utah State Board of Education announced Aug. 4. None teaches in Canyons School District, though the district's own 2026 Teacher of the Year, Silver Mesa Elementary's Lisa Hayes, was Canyons' nominee in the statewide process.

The finalists, whom USBE dubbed the "Fab Five," are Danielle Carter, a fifth-grade special education teacher at Delta Middle School in Millard School District; Talia Casares, a sixth-grade Spanish dual language immersion teacher at Moroni Elementary in North Sanpete School District; Sondra Knudsen, a kindergarten teacher at Adams Elementary in Logan City School District; Daren Lentz, a seventh-grade math teacher at South Cache Middle School in Cache County School District; and Megan Morrison, a seventh- through ninth-grade special education teacher at South Jordan Middle School in Jordan School District.

Morrison teaches closest to Sandy, just across the district boundary in Jordan School District.

Two of the five finalists teach special education.

The finalists were chosen from nominations submitted by districts and charter schools statewide. Each will sit for an in-person interview with a 13-member selection committee that includes representatives from USBE, the Utah Education Association, Utah PTA and other stakeholders, according to USBE. The winner, announced at the Sept. 3 banquet, will represent Utah in the National Teacher of the Year Program, where one state winner is selected to serve as a full-time national spokesperson for the profession.

Hayes, an accommodated core teacher for fourth- and fifth-graders at Silver Mesa, was named Canyons' Teacher of the Year at an April 21 ceremony at Union Middle School. The district received roughly 6,000 nominations for the honor, a record in the 16-year history of its selection process, according to the district. A colleague described Hayes in a nomination letter as "a fierce advocate for students" who puts in "200 percent" effort.

The state program's nomination window opens each April and closes at the end of May, with finalists announced in early August and the winner celebrated in September. Last year's Utah Teacher of the Year was Joanna Andres, a social studies teacher at Park City High School.

Canyons District's school year begins Aug. 17, as we reported last week. The district is taking nominations for its 2026 Apex Awards, which recognize outstanding employees across multiple categories; the Teacher of the Year is selected separately in the spring.