Mrs. Deanna Robbins is the 2023 Bob and Betty Courtway Middle School Teacher of the Year, where she has served as the 6th and 7th grade school counselor since 2020.

Mrs. Robbins graduated from The University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2012, and a Master of Science in School Counseling from The University of Central Arkansas in 2019. Before being hired by Conway Public Schools, Mrs. Robbins spent her first year in education piloting a revamped alternative learning program for a local public high school. In that year, the program had an 80% success rate (student graduation) and was recognized by the Arkansas Association of Alternative Educators at the State Capital.

At Courtway, Mrs. Robbins serves on the Positivity Posse and Leadership Team. She facilitates the distribution of weekly food bags to students and families in need. She has organized holiday food and gift distributions each year for over 30 families through the generous support of community sponsors. Mrs. Robbins is also completing her first year on the Arch Ford Novice Teacher Mentoring Advisory Committee, whose job is to inform the mentoring program in an effort to retain new educators for the field. Mrs. Robbins considers developing relationships as the key to building and maintaining a safe, successful, and productive learning environment. She believes that encouraging students to find the positive things in life, in spite of hard times, cultivates the resilience necessary to be successful.

Teacher of the Year 2021-22

Kaitlyn Ryals has been teaching in the Conway School District for the past three years as a sixth grade math teacher at Bob & Betty Courtway Middle School. She teaches both general education and inclusion students. She is committed to not only bringing a positive mindset to her classroom but also to her entire building by being a member of the Sunshine Committee and Positivity Posse. She is entering into her ninth year of teaching, with one of those years being a year spent teaching math and science in a small remote village in the bush of Alaska. 

Mrs. Ryals received a Bachelor’s of Science in Middle Level Education from the University of Central Arkansas in 2012. She is certified to teach math, science, and ELA at the middle school level. Mrs. Ryals knows the positive impact that a teacher can have on a student and strives daily to make every student feel safe and welcome. She encourages her students to have a growth mindset in every circumstance and makes sure that students leave her classroom believing that they can be successful.

Teacher of the Year 2020-2021

Mrs. Lasley is one of the most compassionate teachers ever. She goes out of her way to make sure that her students and colleagues know that she cares. We have observed her many acts of kindness- sending postcards to students during the summer, organizing showers and birthday gifts for colleagues, and purchasing yearbooks for students who need assistance. Not only does she help students become good readers and writers, she helps them be better humans. 

Teacher of the Year 2019-2020

It’s easy to tell that Ms. Trumble cares deeply for her students. She works tirelessly to implement an ELL program that keeps families at heart, to build relationships with students new to America, and to provide them the best educational opportunities possible. The passion and enthusiasm that Ms. Trumble demonstrates in her teaching shows in the way in which her students display their love of learning and their new way of life in the U.S.