Boerman was selected as the top educator in Region 3, which spans 13 counties, including Ottawa, Allegan, Kent and Muskegon. He is one of 10 finalists for the 2022-23 Michigan Teacher of the Year along with nine other regional honorees.

Boerman’s classes have been involved in several community projects, including the Holland Middle School greenhouse and building benches that were sold to benefit Ukrainian refugees. He was named a National Amazing Teacher of the Month by Gannett Publications last spring.

Regional Teachers of the Year were selected through a competitive application process, MDE said. The process involves being nominated for teacher of the year by students, staff and community members.

Each RTOY will be a member of the Michigan Teacher Leadership Advisory Council, which aims to bring teacher voices to a wider audience. The group works directly with MDE to provide input on policies and initiatives and shares information and resources with colleagues in their regions.

Regional honorees will interview with a panel of statewide education stakeholders to determine the Michigan Teacher of the Year.

That teacher will have a seat at the state’s Board of Education table as a non-voting member, attend national conferences with fellow state teachers of the year and will be Michigan’s candidate for National Teacher of the Year.

This is the second consecutive year the Region 3 Teacher of the Year comes from the Holland area. West Ottawa’s Theresa Ziegler, a social studies teacher at Macatawa Bay Middle School, was last year’s winner.