Cheyenne, Wyo.- When people say that teachers make a difference, they may be speaking of a local educator who recently won an award.
At Johnson Junior High, a local teacher recently won an award for a program that not only has a profound impact on her students but also positively affects the community.
It’s been an 18-year career for Amber Mathisen, and in June, she won the Wyoming Association of Career and Technical Education Teachers award, or WACTE.
“I work really hard to make sure that kids come away with life skills that they really need for the future and that they can apply right now. says Amber Mathisen, Family Consumer Science teacher at Johnson Junior High.
These 7th- and 8th-grade cooking, sewing, financial literacy, and child development classes are under threat of state legislature budget cuts, for a school that serves up to 67 percent of its students with free or reduced lunches.
“So that we don’t have to charge our kids fees for the sewing projects. Which we really don’t want to do in this economic environment; we don’t want to pull money, particularly, from this population of students,” says Mathisen.
These cuts are making schools scramble on already lean program budgets.
LCSD1 is the largest district in the state and has been operating at a deficit due to a $3 million revenue shortfall resulting from lower property tax collections in the 2024-2025 budget, as well as a reduced school building maintenance budget.
“The junior highs don’t actually get that percentage of money that has been talked about a lot in the legislature; we don’t get that money that just goes to the high schools. So the money that the legislature is cutting back in career tech classes are expensive because we have to buy food and we have to buy products,” says Mathisen.
For many, these classes anchor at-risk students, helping to give them a safe haven and setting them up for success.
“We try very hard to make sure that every student in this building has an adult that they can connect with and that they all can feel safe and respected and be in a learning environment where they can learn and flourish and accomplish their dreams.
Additionally, students who graduate from this program go on to be more successful.
“When kids are in a concentrator sequence of any of our areas, they graduate in the 90th percentile from high school,” says Mathisen.
Recently, several school districts and the Wyoming Education Association sued the state for not sufficiently funding schools as per the Wyoming Constitution.
They are still waiting for the legal outcomes, as these schools haven’t adjusted their funding model for school costs since 2005.
“Think how much salaries have gone up since then. Think how much costs have gone up since then,” says Mathisen.
Officials also note that lower enrollment, resulting from families leaving the state, also reduces school funding.
This year’s WACTE conference will be held at Casper College in Casper from June 11th through the 13th.
Mathisen now moves on to become a nominee in the regional and national competitions for this annual award.
For more information on the WACTE awards, click here.
Career Tech Teacher of the Year talks school challenges