Auburn’s Kimberly Johnson honored with 2024 NEA Award for teaching excellence

AUBURN, Ala. (WRBL) -Auburn Junior High School teacher Kimberly Johnson has been recognized with the prestigious 2024 NEA Member Benefits Award for Teaching Excellence. The NEA Foundation announced Johnson, an interventionist and resource teacher at Auburn Junior High School, as the recipient of one of public education’s top honors. The award was presented to her at the Salute to Excellence in Education Gala in Washington, D.C., on Friday, May 3, 2024.

WRBL takes us inside the classroom of Alabama’s 2022 Teacher of the Year, where advocacy and support are paramount. Reflecting on her journey, Johnson said, “It was teachers seeing potential in me. I’m about to get teared up just talking about it, but it was teachers who saw potential in me, nurtured it, and encouraged it, and here I am.”

Her advocacy focuses on individual growth, goal setting, fostering good work habits, and building confidence. Through every success and failure, Johnson is there, cheering her students on. The 2024 NEA Award for Teaching Excellence is a testament to her significant impact.

“I’ve always just latched on to the kid that needed a little extra—an extra hug, a mama, an auntie,” Johnson shared. “So I started working with kids who struggled while I was still teaching eighth-grade language arts, and it just morphed into this position where I started working with kids who needed extra support, which was my niche.”

Principal Ross Reed of Auburn Junior High School remarked, “Kim Johnson is like our school mother, not only for the kids but also for the faculty. I sometimes call her our barometer. She gives us information. She knows the pulse of the school, the faculty, the kids, the parents. She’s an outstanding educator who works hard every day for all of our stakeholders here at Auburn Junior High School.”

After two decades with Auburn City Schools, Principal Reed acknowledged Johnson has guided thousands of students toward successful futures. Johnson emphasized, “And just kids, knowing that you think that they can do anything and that education is super important because that supplies you with options.”

Johnson’s dedication to creating meaningful outcomes in her students’ lives is evident in her approach. An eighth- and ninth-grade interventionist and study skills teacher at Auburn Junior High School, she has spent the last 23 years committed to student-centered learning. Johnson believes in the profound impact of positive teacher-student relationships. By connecting with each student and building trust, she aims to help them grow and have a lifetime of wonderful experiences.

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