DHHS Teacher Wins National Award

Kathy Lindstrom, a language arts teacher at Desert Hills High School, recently earned a "Teacher of Honor" designation from Kappa Delta Pi, an international honor society in education. Lindstrom joins a small group of remarkable educators recognized with this honor, and is the first teacher to receive the award for 2010.

"It is because of her passion and leadership that Ms. Lindstrom has achieved such success with students in helping them achieve," says Principal Art Madden. "With her assistance, Desert Hills reached the highest level of state testing achievement."

Lindstrom is a 21-year veteran teacher, and has worked with a wide variety of students in California and Arizona. In her years at Desert Hills, she has served as English Department Chair, where she has mentored new English teachers, and led the curriculum development of courses, with specific attention to the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) preparation course.

Ms. Lindstrom's work in the English department has helped boost student test scores by 40 percent. Additionally, she played an integral role in assisting DHHS meet full national accreditation with AdvancED.

She has been a member of the Arizona Department of Education's (ADE) AIMS committees since 2005, and has assisted the state in developing both the AIMS reading tests and the scoring for the AIMS writing exam.

ADE Deputy Associate Superintendent Robert Alley called Lindstrom "a valuable contributor to creating and maintaining the integrity of the AIMS exam." Alley also says that "it is only with dedicated educators such as Ms. Lindstrom that ADE can keep the AIMS a reliable and valid measure of the academic standards."

Lindstrom has been an active volunteer at Phoenix Rescue Mission, a nonprofit organization that cares for the poor and needy through homeless emergency services, addiction recovery, and family and community outreach. Additionally, she is vice president of the Arizona Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, through which she manages, recruits, and maintains the membership of the organization.

She is earning her Doctor of Education at Northcentral University, and holds her MA in Curriculum and Instruction and a BA in English.