Receiving the Presidential Award is such an incredible honor. It validates all the hard work I've put in over the years, but it isn't just my work that is being recognized. The dedicated staff I get to work with every day creates the platform for me to do my best work. Because of that, I am able to create exciting, engaging, and powerful learning opportunities for my students. Through this award, I get to celebrate my fellow teachers' support and encouragement and what it has done for me.

Janet Wragge Casper, WY | K-6, Science, 2016

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Janet Wragge has been teaching for 27 years in Natrona County School District 1. She has spent the last 23 years at Oregon Trail Elementary School teaching a variety of grade levels. She also served as Oregon Trail's Instructional Facilitator for four years, assisting her fellow teachers. Janet taught third grade for the past two years, and is now teaching all subjects for fifth grade. Janet’s passion is creating outdoor educational opportunities for her school. As the Instructional Facilitator, she created a program called Burn and Learn to help teachers implement place-based learning. Since then, she has created multiple outdoor classroom spaces and has acquired a greenhouse for her school. She and her students start the day outside exploring and learning in the outdoor spaces near her school. Janet and her students think it is the best part of the day. Janet has presented sessions on using Burn and Learn to implement place-based learning and inquiry science at state and national conferences. She has also done presentations on how to combine science with history. She is currently writing units for Agriculture in the Classroom's Wyoming Stewardship Project that will be used throughout the state of Wyoming. Janet earned a B.A. in elementary education from the University of Wyoming and a M.A. in teaching from Grand Canyon University. She is certified in elementary education.

Know a great teacher like Janet Wragge?